$5 Luzerne County vehicle fee will end Dec. 31, 2021, council decides

Luzerne County will officially stop collecting the $5 vehicle registration fee at the end of 2021, council decided Tuesday.

Councilman Stephen J. Urban had proposed terminating the fee at the end of this year, but the administration said the additional time is needed to collect $2 million to secure a full $2 million state match.

The administration had opted to use $1 million of the $1.13 million collected last year to fix two deteriorated roads.

Several council members said the administration should have expressly alerted council it planned to use fee revenue for roads because only bridge spending counts as credit toward obtaining the state match.

Urban said continuing the fee another year gives the manager a “pass” and “no repercussions.” He argued the additional funds required for the match should be found elsewhere.

But Councilman Robert Schnee proposed the amendment to keep the fee through 2021, saying he does not want to risk loss of any portion of the match due to insufficient funds.

Schnee also said the manager’s use of $275,719 of the fee funds for Foothills Drive in Butler Township was warranted because he spotted one motorist filling potholes on that roadway with dirt and another later marking them with florescent paint to alert drivers because county patching did not hold up.

Pedri said the Foothills work was part of a $1.5 million project that will result in three municipalities assuming ownership of seven miles of roads. The other $725,057 was spent reconstructing Elmwood Avenue in the Crestwood Industrial Park in Wright Township because approximately 1,000 people work in the complex and he has received numerous complaints about vehicle damage.

Going forward, the vehicle fee revenue and state match will be used to fix three deteriorated bridges — West Liberty Street in Hanover Township, East County Road in Hollenback Township and the Hillside Road Bridge in Kingston Township, Pedri said.

Four of the 11 council members initially voted against Schnee’s amendment — Urban, Walter Griffith, Harry Haas and Linda McClosky Houck. In the final vote on the amended proposal, the only no vote came from Urban.

Several citizens spoke in support of ending the fee.

Kingston resident Brian Shiner said he’s always been against the fee but agrees with keeping it through 2021 so the county does not miss out on the state match.

“I don’t see any point in ending it now and shortchanging ourselves,” Shiner said.

In other business Tuesday, council voted to:

• Settle two pending lawsuits. The county must pay $55,000 to settle the first suit filed by the estate of deceased inmate Tricia Cooper, with the insurance carrier covering $15,000 and the county contributing $40,000 remaining on its $50,000 insurance deductible. The second settlement with plaintiff Leah Brizzy over Children and Youth’s removal of her child from her care is $35,000, and the insurance carrier will contribute $25,000 not covered by the county’s $10,000 insurance deductible.

Griffith provided the lone no vote on the settlements.

• Postpone the proposed sale of 19 repository properties due to Griffith’s request for further discussion. These properties did not sell at prior tax auctions.

• Unanimously introduce an ordinance suggested by Councilman Matthew Vough to create a County Cares Commission focused on drug and substance abuse and homelessness. Future council adoption is required to enact the plan.