Multco board approves registration fee hike of $19 to help pay for new Sellwood Bridge

PORTLAND, Ore. – Multnomah County Commissioners have voted to approve a steep registration fee hike for automobiles in order to help finance the replacement of the aging Sellwood Bridge.

The yearly $19 tax, typically paid as $38 for a two-year registration, will be in effect until the year 2030. The county’s vote was unanimous.

The $38 fee will begin to show up in registration renewal notices in September of 2010.

Commissioners had also considered a bicycle registration fee but that idea was not approved since the commissioners felt most cyclists were also motor vehicle drivers.

The fee is forecast to raise about $125 million, or a third of the projected cost to replace the Sellwood Bridge, which was constructed in 1925, back when traffic was much lighter and most people were driving Ford Model T’s and similar lightweight cars.

The bridge currently has weight restrictions that restricts heavy truck traffic. Cracks in the structure of the bridge have been found and last year, the bridge ranked near the bottom percentile in a safety inspection.

Total cost of replacing the span is estimated to be near $300 million, depending on the design. The registration fees, other local funding and anticipated federal funding is expected to cover the rest of the cost.

A design for the new bridge has not yet been finalized. Construction could begin in two to three years pending design approval.