It'll Cost More to Register Your Vehicle this Winter - Carver County Raised its Wheelage Tax

Next year you will pay $5 more to register your vehicle with the state, thanks to Carver County.

Carver County commissioners Jim Ische, Gayle Degler and Randy Maluchnik voted last month to enact the wheelage tax, a surcharge the state allows metropolitan counties to enact on local vehicles.

Commissioners Tom Workman and Tim Lynch opposed the tax increase.

The fee will be collected along with vehicle registration tab payments beginning Jan. 1. And this tax increase is expected to net $315,000 in new revenue for Carver County.

But, unbelievably - predictably-, the three commissioners wanted an even higher tax. “One of the key counter arguments was it wasn't much — $315,000 — for us, it's a drop in the bucket,” said then County Administrator David Hemze.

In Carver County, the wheelage tax was earmarked for the county road fund, which pays for road and bridge expansion projects. This fund was underfunded in the past.

Aside from transaction costs, the counties keep all the revenue from their own residents. Motorcycles, most trailers and semi trailer trucks would be exempt.

Carver County won't recoup all of the $5 from each vehicle. Software upgrades at the state could cost the county as much as $34,200, with an ongoing 10-cent per transaction fee.

The state's transaction fee is expected to decrease as more counties participate in the system. There was no mention if the increased vehicle registration tax would do likewise.