Philipsburg meeting on Centre County vehicle fee increase draws just 1 resident

PHILIPSBURG — The Philipsburg and Rush Township communities showed little interest in Centre County’s plan to educate local communities about a proposed $5 vehicle registration fee increase for betterment of county roadways and bridges.

Just one resident — Roger Cartwright, of Rush Township — attended the meeting March 20 at the Moshannon Valley YMCA.

Despite the near non-existent audience, Centre County Chairman Commissioner Michael Pipe gave a short slide presentation offering details of Act 89 of 2013, better known as the Transportation Bill, which gave individual counties the option to increase registration fees by $5 starting in 2015. Fourteen Pennsylvania counties have adopted the fee increase, and all revenue from the program is pumped directly back into transportation systems of each county.

The bill was signed into law by then-Gov. Tom Corbett.

In addition to the overview of the program, Pipe’s presentation discussed how much in liquid fuel money the county divvies up each year for local transportation projects, as well as several photos of “structurally deficient,” “borderline” and “functionally obsolete” bridges around the county.

Pipe explained that although several bridges in the county are in need of repair, any funding collected through the registration fee could be applied to any county transportation project.

“Also, we learned last week the state will match up to $2 million for projects for any county that’s involved with the program,” said Pipe. “The state is using it as an incentive to get more counties on board with the program.”

Cartwright said he feels the vehicle registration fee should be implemented at the state level, rather than leaving it up to the counties to enact the practice.

“My thing is that it’s just not Centre County people using these roadways here,” said Cartwright.

Cartwright also questioned how the money would be divided amongst the municipalities.

“There’s a formula in place to determine how much in liquid fuels each county gets,” said Pipe. “It’s an archaic way of doing things, sure, but it’s the way they are done. It would be up to us, as commissioners, to determine what amounts go to which projects.”

Pipe also explained to Cartwright that all funds collected through the registration process would have to be used for transportation projects only, and would not include special projects such as the current reconstruction of Cold Stream Dam or any bicycle or walking paths.

“All of this money will be used towards improving transportation systems in different areas of the county,” said Pipe.

The meeting was the first in a series of three public hearings on the proposed vehicle registration fee increase for Centre County. The first two meetings were originally scheduled for March 14 and March 15; however, Winter Storm Stella forced those meetings to be postponed. They have been rescheduled. A public hearing is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 28, at the Patton Township Municipal Building and the final meeting is scheduled for Thursday, April 6, at 6:30 p.m. on the third floor of the Courthouse Annex in Bellefonte.

In January, the county surveyed its 35 municipalities to gauge interest in the registration fee hike. Of the 19 that responded, 12 were in favor of the measure, including the townships of Boggs, College, Gregg, Patton, Potter and Spring, and the boroughs of Centre Hall, Milesburg, Millheim, Snow Shoe, State College and Unionville. Those not in favor of enacting the fee were Haines, Halfmoon, Harris, Penn and Snow Shoe townships and Bellefonte Borough. Ferguson Township replied that it is a decision for the commissioners to make and would support whichever action the board takes.