Butler County commissioners are considering enacting an ordinance imposing a $5 fee on vehicles registered in the county.

County Commissioner Leslie Osche, board chairman, said now is the time to act because the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation is temporarily offering a $2 million incentive to adopt the fee.

“We felt compelled to leverage our dollars,” Osche said.

If the ordinance is approved at the May 18 meeting, the fee would be added to state vehicle registrations starting in September.

The county estimates netting $920,000 annually from the new fee. Under state regulations, the funds could only be used for road and bridge work.

Of the county's 134 bridges, 59 were deemed structurally deficient at one point. County Commissioner Kim Geyer said bridge work was being done as money became available.

Geyer said 34 bridges still are in need of repair. Over a five-year span between 2012 and this year, the county repaired seven bridges, reducing the ones in need of work from 41 to 34.

Osche said this funding would speed up the process.

“Right out of the gate, we should be able to do four,” she said.

Geyer said any money not needed by the county would be used to help municipalities with their infrastructure needs, including the replacement of traffic signals.

“There's only so much grant money available,” she said.

Osche said municipal officials have requested the county adopt the fee to obtain the funding.

“We have been approached by a number of them,” she said.

Not every commissioner is convinced the fee should be implemented.

“I've been 'no' to this from day one,” said Commissioner Kevin Boozel.

He said he may only support the fee if the state matches the annual revenue.

Under a state transportation law enacted in 2013, counties can assess the fee to every nonexempt vehicle registered in that county.

Since the state does not require registration fees for some vehicles, including those owned by government and mass transportation providers, those ones would be exempt from the $5 fee.

Geyer said Butler would be the 15th county to adopt the fee.

Osche said the board realizes adopting the fee would not be a popular decision, but the revenue could only be spent locally.

“In this case, the money comes back to your county,” she said.

Osche said the county would borrow $9 million from the Pennsylvania Infrastructure Bank, repaying the money over 10 years using the annual revenue and one-time incentive.

The state legislature in 2016 freed up money for this initiative by capping expenses from the Motor License Fund being earmarked for the state police budget.

Over a 10-year period from the fiscal year 2018-19 to 2027-28, an additional 4 percent revenue totaling an estimated $2.1 billion will go toward the PennDOT highway and bridge construction.

The topic is on the agenda for discussion at the commissioners meeting Wednesday at the public meeting room of the county government center.