San Mateo County measure would add $10 to car registration

By Mike Rosenberg
San Mateo County Times

Posted: 05/12/2010 07:58:55 PM PDT

Updated: 05/12/2010 11:48:38 PM PDT

San Mateo County drivers would pay an extra $10 to register their cars under a proposed ballot measure that would fund projects to help loosen local traffic jams.

The county's congestion management agency will begin considering today a ballot measure to raise the vehicle registration fee that drivers pay annually to the California Department of Motor Vehicles.

It would be placed on the November ballot at a cost of $300,000 to $500,000 to the county.

If approved by a simple majority of San Mateo County voters, the fee increase would generate an estimated $6.8 million annually for the county.

The revenues could be used to fund local transportation improvements such as street paving, Caltrain and SamTrans subsidies, the safe routes to school program, and bike and pedestrian projects, among others.

The county's congestion management agency, called the City/County Association of Governments, is overseen by a board that consists of one city council member from each city in the county.

The agency's staff plans to research the measure more, including possible polling of local voters, before the board votes in July on whether to place the measure on the ballot.

Several other counties around the Bay Area and state are considering similar measures. Executive Director Rich Napier said other counties have found "favorable" polling results.

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Submitted by Jim Alex