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Published 12:16 pm Thursday, April 16, 2015

SALEM — Some fees for driver’s licenses should be increased so that vehicle title and registration fees do not subsidize the costs of operating the Driver and Motor Vehicle Services Division, according to a report presented Thursday.

But Oregon’s 2.9 million drivers should not expect increases soon.

Even though the Oregon Transportation Commission accepted the report, it’s unlikely to result in action this session by the Oregon Legislature, which has the final say on fees.

“You have to rely on the Legislature if fees are going to change,” DMV Administrator Tom McClellan said. “In many cases, our costs exceed our charges.”

The commission did not act on a similar report from September 2013, based on an assumption that lawmakers would increase some of those fees this year to raise more money for road and bridge work.

However, the prospects for action on a transportation funding package — including increases in fuel and truck taxes — are uncertain at best in the current session.

McClellan said DMV will recommend legislation for the 2017 session.

The report says that fees for driver-related services — such as licensing and testing — are recovering only 40 percent of their actual costs. It says vehicle title and registration fees are offsetting the difference, but in turn, they are generating less for road and bridge work by the state, counties and cities.

“I hope you can bring that home to legislators,” commission member David Lohman of Medford said after the presentation by McClellan.

The proposed fee increases would recoup an estimated $88.3 million over a two-year budget period.

Some examples of the higher fees: Original driver’s license, from $54 to $100; license renewal (eight years), from $34 to $60; driving skills test, from $9 to $37; vehicle registration fee (two-year basis), from $86 to $96; identification card, $40.50 to $54.

All fees exclude a proposed $4 surcharge for a 10-year DMV computer upgrade, the first stage of which is underway. That project, which among other things will enable DMV to accept credit and debit cards, is estimated at $100 million over a decade.

Lawmakers increased some of these fees in 2003 and 2009, but earmarked specific increases to pay off bonds for highway and bridge projects, not for recovery of DMV costs.

McClellan says DMV has shed 24 positions over the past four years, and with 40 percent of its workforce scheduled for retirement in the next few years, is likely to reduce a few more.

The Capital Bureau is a collaboration between EO Media Group and Pamplin Media Group.