Commissioners raise vehicle registration fee $5
Increase to be applied only to township residents around county
County commissioners Bill Hutson (left), Adam Friedrick and Pat Geissman (right) discuss raising the vehicle registration fee for some county residents as clerk Peggy Folk takes notes. File photo
MEDINA – County commissioners approved a $5 increase in the annual registration fee charged on motor vehicles for most township residents around the county.
The fee increase approved by commissioners June 27 will not affect residents of Brunswick, Lodi, Medina, Seville or Wadsworth where the license plate fees are already at the maximum local taxing districts are allowed to impose under current state law.
Highway Engineer Andy Conrad recommended the fee increase in order to generate about $500,000 a year which he said is sorely needed to keep up with rising road maintenance costs.
“The revenue coming in has been stagnant since 2006,” Conrad told commissioners when recommending the fee increase. “Meanwhile, the cost of asphalt has gone up 60 percent, limestone aggregate has gone up 80 percent and the chip and seal oil we use has gone up 100 percent.”
The consequences of rising costs with no additional funding is that road maintenance dollars do not go nearly as far as they used to. Conrad said the fee increase will allow his department to resurface more county roads each year. It had been repaving 15-20 miles of asphalt roads a year and putting a new chip and seal surface on another 20 miles of road.
The Ohio Revised Code allows counties, municipalities and townships to enact optional permissive taxes on annual vehicle registrations in addition to the base $34.50 fee imposed by the state. Those taxes can be levied in $5 increments but may not exceed $20 in any taxing district.
Fees imposed by the county and municipalities were already at $20 in Brunswick, Lodi, Medina, Seville and Wadsworth, so the $5 increase approved by commissioners will not be applied to residents in those communities.
It does, however, affect residents in the rest of the county where the locally imposed license plate fees range from $10 to $15. Communities where the local fee was $10 are Gloria Glens, Westfield Center, Spencer, Chippewa Lake, Granger, Guilford, Harrisville, Hinckley, Litchfield, Liverpool, Medina Township, Sharon, York and Wadsworth Township.
The local license plate fee was $15 in Brunswick Hills, Chatham, Homer, Lafayette, Montville and Westfield townships.
Service coordinator
Commissioners approved an agreement through which the Medina County Health Department will provide a service coordinator for the Early Intervention Program managed by the Family First Council. The agreement calls for the Health Department to be reimbursed $35.20 per hour for the services provided but no more than $73,000 for the year.
Imaging contract
Commissioners approved two agreements with Northwoods Consulting Partners to provide maintenance services for the data imagining projects at the Child Support Enforcement Agency and Job and Family Services. The combined cost of those maintenance agreements is not to exceed $78,000 per year.
Appointee
Commissioners appointed Job and Family Services Director Jeff Felton to serve a two-year term on the Northeast Ohio Regional Prevention Council that reports to the Ohio Children’s Trust Fund.
Personnel expenses
Commissioners authorized the expenses for several county employees to attend a series of out-of-town meetings and seminars. Among those expenses were $2,000 for two employees of the Adult Probation Department to attend a two-day training program in Youngstown, $1,000 for the Adult Probation Department director to attend a two-day board meeting in Columbus, and $890 for two sheriff’s deputies to attend a three-day training program in Richfield.
The fee increase approved by commissioners June 27 will not affect residents of Brunswick, Lodi, Medina, Seville or Wadsworth where the license plate fees are already at the maximum local taxing districts are allowed to impose under current state law.
Highway Engineer Andy Conrad recommended the fee increase in order to generate about $500,000 a year which he said is sorely needed to keep up with rising road maintenance costs.
“The revenue coming in has been stagnant since 2006,” Conrad told commissioners when recommending the fee increase. “Meanwhile, the cost of asphalt has gone up 60 percent, limestone aggregate has gone up 80 percent and the chip and seal oil we use has gone up 100 percent.”
The consequences of rising costs with no additional funding is that road maintenance dollars do not go nearly as far as they used to. Conrad said the fee increase will allow his department to resurface more county roads each year. It had been repaving 15-20 miles of asphalt roads a year and putting a new chip and seal surface on another 20 miles of road.
The Ohio Revised Code allows counties, municipalities and townships to enact optional permissive taxes on annual vehicle registrations in addition to the base $34.50 fee imposed by the state. Those taxes can be levied in $5 increments but may not exceed $20 in any taxing district.
Fees imposed by the county and municipalities were already at $20 in Brunswick, Lodi, Medina, Seville and Wadsworth, so the $5 increase approved by commissioners will not be applied to residents in those communities.
It does, however, affect residents in the rest of the county where the locally imposed license plate fees range from $10 to $15. Communities where the local fee was $10 are Gloria Glens, Westfield Center, Spencer, Chippewa Lake, Granger, Guilford, Harrisville, Hinckley, Litchfield, Liverpool, Medina Township, Sharon, York and Wadsworth Township.
The local license plate fee was $15 in Brunswick Hills, Chatham, Homer, Lafayette, Montville and Westfield townships.
Service coordinator
Commissioners approved an agreement through which the Medina County Health Department will provide a service coordinator for the Early Intervention Program managed by the Family First Council. The agreement calls for the Health Department to be reimbursed $35.20 per hour for the services provided but no more than $73,000 for the year.
Imaging contract
Commissioners approved two agreements with Northwoods Consulting Partners to provide maintenance services for the data imagining projects at the Child Support Enforcement Agency and Job and Family Services. The combined cost of those maintenance agreements is not to exceed $78,000 per year.
Appointee
Commissioners appointed Job and Family Services Director Jeff Felton to serve a two-year term on the Northeast Ohio Regional Prevention Council that reports to the Ohio Children’s Trust Fund.
Personnel expenses
Commissioners authorized the expenses for several county employees to attend a series of out-of-town meetings and seminars. Among those expenses were $2,000 for two employees of the Adult Probation Department to attend a two-day training program in Youngstown, $1,000 for the Adult Probation Department director to attend a two-day board meeting in Columbus, and $890 for two sheriff’s deputies to attend a three-day training program in Richfield.