Compromise budget package ties vehicle registration fees to broader weight classes

Passenger car owners in Maryland will see at least a $92 increase in the cost to register a vehicle as part of a package of fees meant to shore up the Transportation Trust Fund.

The House and Senate are expected to vote as early as Friday on the package which is part of a budget compromise between the two chambers. That compromise, agreed to by budget conferees Thursday, will pump more than $2.1 billion over the next five years into road and transit projects, education and Shock Trauma and emergency services.

“There is a lot to be proud of, in this package,” said Senate Budget and Taxation Chair Guy Guzzone (D-Howard). “At the end of the day, I honestly believe that a lot of lives are going to be better off.”

The vehicle registration increases are part of a compromise between the Senate and House that will raise $252 million for transportation projects in fiscal 2025. That amount is projected to increase each year to nearly $336 million in fiscal 2029.

The House and Senate conference committees Thursday finalized a spending and revenue plan that includes a number of new or revised fees and taxes including vehicle registration fees based on an expanded set of weight classes. The full spectrum of classes was not immediately available.

Currently, owners of passenger cars weighing up to 3,700 pounds pay $135 for a two-year registration. Passenger cars over 3,700 pounds pay $187.

At the low end, cars weighing under 3,500 pounds will pay $92 more for the two-year registration. At the high end, cars over 5,000 pounds will pay an additional $151 every two years.

The state’s Shock Trauma system will receive $46 of the fee increases. Currently, the trauma system gets $17 — an amount that was set by law in 2013.

Owners of electric and plug-in hybrid cars will pay higher fees based on weight plus an additional surcharge on their registration.

Those new surcharges — $250 every two years for EVs and $200 every two years for plug-in hybrids — could raise as much as $20 million, according to an estimate released by the House last month. The increased fees would be payable in installments.

Taxes collected on gas sales is a major component of the revenue earmarked for the Transportation Trust Fund. Electric and plug-in hybrid vehicle owners pay little to no fuel taxes even as the heavier cars cause more wear and tear on roadways.

On top of the surcharge, electric and plug-in hybrid vehicle owners will pay higher registration fees based on weight.

A 2024 Mustang Mach E can weigh between 4,400 and nearly 5,000 pounds. Tesla models for the same year weigh between 3,900 and 5,300 pounds.

House Appropriations Chair Ben Barnes (D-Prince George’s and Anne Arundel) called the expanded weight classes a “really creative idea here to make sure that highway class vehicles causing more wear and tear on our roads are paying a greater share of that cost.”

Both chambers are expected to vote on the compromise Friday. That vote will complete work on the $63 billion budget proposed by Gov. Wes Moore (D) in January.

The vote by the conference committee capped nearly a week of sometimes contentious public debate between the two chambers.

“People have asked: how are you all going to come together on this? How is this going to be possible? You seem at odds,” said Barnes. “And I’ve said, and I think you’ll agree, it’s because we share values. We have the same values. We have the same goals. In this instance, making sure we have a robust transportation system that can be delivered safely and fast and get them home to see their families and also providing a world class public education for their children.”

A spokesperson for Moore said the governor will sign the spending package when it reaches his desk.

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