Mat-Su eyes permanent vehicle registration

PALMER — If you live in the Valley, chances are good you have at least one vehicle made more than eight years ago.

And if that vehicle is one you keep registered with the state, at least two Mat-Su Borough Assemblymen think you shouldn’t have to renew its registration every other year.

“Philosophically, it’s the right thing to do,” said Assemblyman Jim Colver of his intent to create a permanent vehicle registration scheme in Mat-Su at a Tuesday press conference in the borough’s assembly chambers.

Drivers generally prefer newer vehicles for commuting, he said. Older vehicles tend to be plow trucks or classic cars, only occasionally used and often parked.

“They’ve paid a lot of taxes on it and it’s not causing wear and tear on the road,” Colver said.

Vehicle registration is kind of a weird area, a set of fees shared between the state and the borough. Rep. Bill Stoltze, R-Chugiak, said he began the process of creating a permanent class of vehicle registration thinking it would be a statewide change.

However, Stoltze said he encountered a “strong lobby” in the form of the Alaska Municipal League and the Alaska Conference of Mayors. A lot of communities depend on vehicle taxes, so he made it a local option. If a local assembly chooses to approve the permanent registration, then it is available to residents there.

The state collects more tax revenue than it needs. It takes in $74 million to $75 million annually in vehicle taxes and, while it runs the state Department of Motor Vehicles out of that fund, usually there’s between $50 million and $60 million remaining for the state to spend, according to Stoltze

The eight-year limit was somewhat arbitrary, Stoltze said, but he had to pick a number.

“For some people at eight years they’re just breaking it in,” he said. Alaska can be a pretty transient state and with an extra $20 fee for permanent rather than bi-yearly registration, “you’re taking a gamble that that vehicle is going to be on the road for the ninth and tenth years.”

Colver said he wasn’t worried about the cost to the borough, which figures appended to his legislation put at $2.4 million by the second year in place. That money generally goes to the borough’s special service areas that provide things like road maintenance and firefighting.

“We feel that the fiscal impact would be minimal,” he said.

Assembly Member Matthew Beck also spoke at the press conference. He said he hoped the change would encourage people to comply with registration laws. Like Colver, he said he wasn’t worried about the cost. Beck said paying for services with a changing revenue picture is just part of the assembly’s job.

“We all know we’re going to have to be creative with our revenues,” he said.

Colver said he intends to introduce legislation to approve the permanent registration at the Aug. 4 assembly meeting, with a vote scheduled for Aug. 26.

Contact Andrew Wellner at 352-2270 or andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com.