Montco Passes Fee Raising Money For County Infrastructure
MONTGOMERY COUNTY (CBS) -- Montgomery County is the latest Pennsylvania county to pass a five-dollar fee to raise money for infrastructure like roads and bridges. But it wasn't without a fight from the minority member of the board of commissioners.
Pennsylvania's transportation funding Act 89 gave counties the options to add a $5 fee to annual car registrations to raise money specifically for infrastructure projects like roads and bridges in that county. Bucks, Chester, and Philadelphia counties adopted the fee unanimously.
Matt Edmond with the county's planning commission says they often see long delays in projects when the county has to wait for federal or state money, and adding the fee would help.
"It's a stable funding source that we can count on here at the county level."
Edmond's comments were part of about an hour of speeches, mostly in favor of the fee. It became a hot topic when minority commissioner, Republican Joe Gale, launched a website attacking the fee.
It also shows a growing rift between the Democratic commissioners Josh Shapiro and Val Arkoosh, and Joe Gale. Gale opened the meeting complaining he isn't being briefed as he would like by the county's senior staff.
