Montgomery County drivers will pay $5 more to register a vehicle after the county commissioners approved a new fee to pay for bridge and road work -- but not before contentious debate by the governing body.
Lone Republican Commissioner Joe Gale railed against not only the increase in the annual vehicle registration from $36 to $41, but also the way he is treated by the two Democrats who control the board’s legislative agenda.
Gale accused Democrats Josh Shapiro and Val Arkoosh, the board chair and vice-chair respectively, of setting the monthly board’s agenda before letting him know what’s on it.
“This means the agenda is finalized prior to my briefing and my input is not even being considered,” he said in a speech to open the meeting. He went on to accuse the Commissioners’ chief clerk of “total and gross insubordination” for ignoring his pleas to be included in setting the agenda.
Shapiro and Arkoosh, who adamantly defended their staff, later pointed out that county staff briefs the commissioners twice a month at “info sessions” on what will appear on upcoming agendas.
“I have worked with staffs of all caliber and types and I will tell you the senior staff here is among the most professional, highly competent group of individuals,” Arkoosh said. “I have had no trouble getting what I have needed for the last 19, 20 months.”
Shapiro and Arkoosh voted to approve the $5 fee while Gale voted against it. Before the final vote, Gale introduced a motion to table the vote until the fee received more public input. But his motion received no second from Arkoosh or Shapiro.
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The extra $5 for all 693,000 vehicles registered in Montgomery County will raise an estimated $3.25 million in 2017, county officials said. That money can only be spent by the county on transportation infrastructure, according to the 2013 state law that allowed the fee.
The commissioners said the new money would go toward reconstruction of eight county bridges that have been deemed structurally deficient. Arkoosh said the eight bridges will add to four that the county already scheduled for reconstruction in 2017. The 12 bridges next year would take a bite out of the 63 county bridges in total that are currently structurally deficient.
Several county agencies voiced their support for the $5 fee increase, including the Montgomery County Planning Commission and Montgomery County Transportation Association. Two state representatives, Democrat Tim Briggs and Republican Mike Vereb, also spoke in favor of the fee, noting that it was part of Pennsylvania’s transportation funding reform Act 89. They said its purpose was to give counties control over some of their transportation project planning.
“When you use county money, you can get through things very quickly,” county planning commission staff engineer Matt Edmond told the commissioners.
Arkoosh said the situation facing county bridges is dire.
“We cannot wait any longer for state or federal funds,” she said.
The four bridges currently scheduled for reconstruction in 2017 are: Moreland Avenue; Mayor Road; Davis Grove; and Lutheran Road.
A county spokeswoman said that, based on preliminary recommendations by county enginners, the potential list of eight bridges that the new $5 fee would fund in 2017 are: Stump Road; Waverly Road; Rostowski Road; Swamp Pike; Mill Creek Pond; Sterigere Street; Plymouth Road; and Camp Wawa Road.
To explore the list of Montgomery County’s structurally deficient bridges, go to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation’s link here. To go directly to an Excel spreadsheet of all the bridges, click here.
