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Senator drops plan to add $72-a-year fee on old cars
DENVER (AP) — A proposal to raise fees on older cars to pay for fixing highways is being scrapped but lawmakers are still trying to find a way to raise money to pay for bridge repairs.
Sen. Abel Tapia, D-Pueblo, said today that a revamped proposal, which could come as early as Thursday, would eliminate a provision requiring the drivers of older cars to pay a total of $75 a year to keep their car on the road. Right now, they pay $3.
He declined to provide any other details about possible changes. Previously, he had said he was also considering lowering the two other proposed fees in his bill — a $25 charge tacked onto car registration fees and a $6-a-day fee on rental cars.
Tapia acknowledged that possible changes might only bring in enough money to focus on bridge repairs but, with only about a week left in the legislative session, he said it would be worth starting there.
“Even if we did that, I believe we would have accomplished something,” he said.
Even though Republicans have criticized the largely Democratic proposal some GOP lawmakers have also been involved in talks to reach a compromise on how to come up with money to pay for bridge repairs.
Sen. Josh Penry, R-Fruita, said there is no bipartisan support for raising car fees but Republicans have proposed using a projected increase of $100 million in severance tax revenue next year to pay for roads.
Another Republican proposal involves the annual one-percent increases in education funding required under Amendment 23. Those increases will end after 2010 and the GOP has proposed redirecting that money toward roads.
Penry acknowledged that it would be easy for Republicans to “make political hay” by denouncing majority Democrats for backing fee increases to pay for roads but he said there is a need for more transportation dollars.
“There are also real needs out there that responsible leadership requires us to solve,” he said.
In addition to car registration fees, Colorado drivers pay a tax based on the value of their cars each year. The tax gradually declines as the car ages and drops to a flat fee of $3 after 10 years.
Under the current measure (Senate Bill 244), drivers of cars currently 10 years and older would be exempted from the $75 a year payment but cars that hit the 10 year mark in the future would have to pay a $72 fee in addition to the $3 ownership tax payment.
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