Here are details of a bill that would raise car registration fees:
Colorado’s current specific ownership tax on cars is based on the value of the vehicle and it gradually declines to $3 a year for cars 10 years and older. Senate Bill 44 would change that and require that drivers pay a total of $75 a year in ownership taxes and a new infrastructure fee.
Drivers of newer cars usually pay more than $75 already and wouldn’t be affected. According to the state transportation department, the change would only affect cars between 5 and 9 years old that are worth $20,000 or more.
The owners of cars 10 years and older who currently pay $3 a year would be grandfathered in.
Backers estimate the combination of increases would bring in around $300 million a year, with an estimated $125 a year going to a fund to pay for bridge repairs only. The rest, about $172 million, would pay for road repairs but no money would be spent on building new roads or expanding existing ones.
Gov. Bill Ritter’s transportation task force estimated the state needs an extra $500 million a year to maintain existing highways.
