Who pays what, and why Lorain County is talking about a permissive $5 vehicle registration tax

Next month, the Lorain County Board of Commissioners will take public comment on countywide, $5 permissive tax on motor vehicle registrations supporters say will help fund future transportation infrastructure repairs and improvements in the county. The money generated from the tax would be used to match federal funding for Lorain County bridge and road projects, according to the county Engineer's Office. Currently, there is no such countywide tax. The issue will not be on a ballot, as state law permits the board to impose the tax without a vote. State law requires at least two public hearings before a decision is made. Commissioners have scheduled those hearings, one each, at 4:30 p.m. April 15 and April 22 in Hearing Room B on the fourth floor of the County Administration Building, 226 Middle Ave. in Elyria. There are a number of permissive taxes governed by Ohio Revised Code Chapter 4504 and its subsections: 4504.02, 4504.15, 4504.16, 4504.18, 4504.181 and 4504.24. Some are meant only for cities and villages, or just townships. Deputy Lorain County Engineer Shaun Duffala said the permissive tax his office is recommending the board approve falls under ORC Section 4504.24. That section of the law says 100 percent of what is generated by that $5 fee goes to the county, from all residents when they renew their vehicle registrations. Revenue from the permissive tax would be restricted and fund only construction projects. It would not — and by law may not — be used to add more staff or buy equipment. According to information provided by the Engineer's Office, seven of the top 10 counties by population in Ohio — Franklin, Cuyahoga, Hamilton, Summit, Montgomery, Lucas and Warren — had enacted all four countywide fees allowed by law. Butler and Stark counties had enacted three of the four allowed. Lorain County is the ninth-largest county by population in Ohio and has enacted none of the four fees countywide. According to the county Engineer's Office, of the 16 cities and villages in Lorain County, 14 collect at least one permissive fee. Elyria, Grafton, Lorain, North Ridgeville, Vermilion and Wellington each collect at least three permissive taxes when residents of those municipalities renew their vehicle registrations. Oberlin collects two; Amherst, Avon, Avon Lake, LaGrange, Rochester, Sheffield and Sheffield Lake collect one each; and South Amherst and Kipton collect none. Ten of the 18 townships in the county also collect at least one permissive fee. Brownhelm Township collects two, and Brighton, Carlisle, Columbia, Eaton, Elyria Township, Huntington, LaGrange Township, Sheffield and Wellington townships all collect one each. Each of those taxes represents a $5 fee paid by vehicle owners. The fees that the cities, villages, and townships collect are used by those municipalities to maintain their local roadway systems, and do not go to the county. Duffala, whose office made a similar recommendation to the Board last year that was rejected that April, looked at the county's needs in the coming years. Federal funding for infrastructure projects often requires local officials to show they are willing to pay up to 20 percent of the cost before they can have the federally-funded 80 percent share. Some of what is collected through the proposed permissive tax would be used to raise the local matching funds the feds want to see, Duffala said. The county is responsible for 235 bridges, many of them in need of repair and some in need of replacement. Such projects are expensive, and the permissive tax would help fund them. The additional funds could also be used to repair roads that wouldn't necessarily qualify for federal funding, many of those in the townships, Duffala said. "There's a lot of roads we'd like to resurface or get back to better condition in rural areas of the county," he said. "This money would help us to better do that." The county is also responsible for a large portion of heavily traveled roads such as Broadway and North Ridge Road in Sheffield Township, and 30 or more bridges within city limits, Duffala said. The county has replaced three bridges in North Ridgeville in the past three years alone, and there are others in Amherst, Lorain, Oberlin, Wellington and other municipalities that the county has replaced for the benefit of city residents and all motorists that use them. "We want to be good stewards of taxpayer dollars," Duffala said. Cities also have leveraged their legal authority to impose the permissive taxes so they can upgrade their transportation infrastructure. North Ridgeville enacted a $5 permissive tax to help it pay for its share of the multi million-dollar widening of Center Ridge Road that began in 2015. Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com. Permissive Taxes Collected City/Village ORC 4504.02 ORC 4504.15 ORC 4504.16 Amherst &emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;X Avon&emsp; &emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;X Elyria &emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;X&emsp; &emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;X &emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;X Grafton &emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;X &emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;X&emsp; &emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;X LaGrange &emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;X Lorain&emsp; &emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;X &emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;X &emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;X N. Ridgeville &emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;X &emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;X &emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;X Oberlin &emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;X &emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;X Rochester &emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;X Sheffield&emsp; &emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp; X Sheffield Lake &emsp;&emsp;&emsp; &emsp;X&emsp; Vermilion&emsp; &emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp; X &emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp; X &emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp; X Wellington &emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp; X &emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp; X &emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp; X (Source: Lorain County Engineer's Office)