TOLEDO, Ohio — License plate fees may soon cost Toledo drivers more as Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz is proposing an increased fee for license plate registration that he says will bring in revenue for better roads.
"This fund is our pothole fund. This is the things that we need to do on the roads that aren't going to be a part of that quarter percent," the city's deputy mayor, Abby Arnold, said.
The "quarter percent" income tax, Arnold said, has been a success since it was voted in in 2020 and its revenue is used to fix the city's roads.
The mayor's proposal for a license plate registration fee increase would bring in revenue for maintaining the roads. The current fee to register your license plate is $25 and the mayor's proposal is to raise it to $30.
"If I don't have to wreck my car, my tires, on pot holes, I'd pay $5," said motorist Ashley Malkemus. "It's not very often that you have to renew plates. $5 is nothing."
If Toledo City Council rejects the proposal, the mayor's office said it would mean cutbacks on road maintenance, such as fewer potholes being filled, Arnold said.
Some cities and villages in Lucas County have already voted in the increase like Maumee, Sylvania and Ottawa Hills.
"Anytime we're asking our residents for additional funding, it's never an easy decision to make," Arnold said. "We weigh those things very carefully, but I do think that, again, the level of priority that our residents have asked us to place on roads, I think it's necessary that we continue to maintain at the level that they deserve."
City council is expected to discuss the plan at its meeting Tuesday. City leaders hope to get the new fee up and running by the middle of next year.