Commissioners Reject County $5 Vehicle Registration Fee

LOCK HAVEN – Citing lack of support from municipal officials who would benefit from the tax, the Clinton County Commissioners Thursday turned down a proposal to add a countywide $5 fee onto the cost of state vehicle registrations.

The Thursday vote was not a surprise as a special meeting on the subject on August 27 had produced little public support. The measure would have produced an estimated $200,000 a year for county municipalities to use for their own roads and bridges.

But Commissioner Paul Conklin, who spoke first, said he had been “disappointed” with the response from local municipal officials who would have been the beneficiaries. The commissioners said only four local municipalities responded, two of which, Flemington and Mill Hall, did offer support. A fourth municipality, Crawford Township, checked in at the Thursday meeting as supervisor Harold Jameson said the topic was discussed at the township meeting on Monday of this week and residents there said they opposed imposition of the fee.

Conklin said, “If it’s not important to those folks (local municipal officials), then it’s not important to us.” Board chairman Pete Smeltz and fellow commissioner Jeff Snyder supported Conklin’s view and all three voted no on a roll call vote. Snyder again voiced his displeasure that the state has allowed the state police to access money from within the state’s liquid fuels fund dollars.

Pennsylvania registration fees are presently $37 for a passenger vehicle, $19 for a motorcycle; truck registration fees are based on weight. The commissioners earlier said Lycoming, Union and Centre Counties are among 22 Pennsylvania counties to have adopted the fee.