According to Texas Transportation Code Section 502.401, Subchapter H, Optional Fees, “The Commissioners Court of a county by order may impose an additional fee, not to exceed $10, for registering a vehicle in the county.” The $10 maximum was established in 1991.
County Impact
Cherokee County collects the $10 fee, which is deposited into the county’s Road & Bridge Fund as required by statute, said Cherokee County Commissioner Kelly Traylor.
“Road materials have gone up drastically,” Traylor emphasized, “and this money we are getting is decreasing in value.”
According to TxDOT, since 2020 road materials have increased 62 percent.
Cherokee County encompasses over 1,000 miles of county roads. The money collected is spread across four precincts.
“We are fighting an uphill battle on our roads because costs are going up but our revenue source is decreasing because of inflation,” Traylor explained. The road budget must cover materials, labor, equipment, repair, maintenance, and replacement costs for roads, bridges, vehicles, culverts, etc.
Cherokee County has been hit with flooding over the last few years which has further drained budget coffers, with the last flood causing $300,000 in damages in Traylor’s precinct alone. While FEMA may cover some of the costs, the reimbursements are capped at 75 percent and may come several years after the incident.
Doubling the fee would be a tremendous help to Cherokee County, Traylor said, and is a fair revenue source as it is being paid by those who are using the roads every day.
Atascosa County also collects the $10, reported County Commissioner Mark Gillespie.
“We support the increase of the fee to $20 and could raise the fee gradually over time if necessary,” Gillespie said.
“The cost of road materials, equipment, and labor to maintain rural county roads has doubled,” he added, “and our rural population has all together outgrown itself and our roads.”
The Resolutions adopted by the members of the County Judges and Commissioners Association of Texas (CJCAT) at the Annual Conference originate among members of Commissioners Courts and serve as the CJCAT Legislative Platform. Members of Commissioners Courts worked with the CJCAT to develop the following resolution:
Optional County Road and Bridge Fee
WHEREAS, the current maximum county optional road and bridge fee has been frozen at $10 since 1991; and
WHEREAS, the cost of construction and maintenance of the county road system has increased tremendously in recent years; and
WHEREAS, as the population of Texas continues to grow, the need for efficient county transportation systems will increase;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the County Judges and Commissioners Association of Texas requests that the maximum county optional road and bridge fee be raised to $20 per vehicle.
