COUNTYWIDE : $2 Vehicle Fee Hike OKd to Fight Smog

The County Board of Supervisors agreed Tuesday to increase motor vehicle registration fees $2 to fund a program aimed at cutting air pollution.

The state Department of Motor Vehicles will begin assessing the fee April 1. The fee was authorized by state legislation Sept. 30 and is expected to generate nearly $1 million a year.

Supervisor John K. Flynn opposed the fee, saying that in last month’s election, Ventura County voters opposed every proposition that called for increased public funds.

“I think the voters are sending us a message,” he said. “They are facing tough times.” Ventura County’s ozone level ranks ninth worst in the nation and ties for third in the state with Fresno and Kern counties. The smoggiest air in the nation is in the area encompassing Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Orange and Riverside counties.

The fee would raise money to hire 10 new employees for the county’s Air Pollution Control District. Under the program, residents could report smoking vehicles on a new toll-free hot line, and a new California Highway Patrol officer would be assigned to nab mobile polluters.

The fee also would fund programs aimed at reducing the number of vehicles on the county’s roads, encouraging cleaner and alternative fuels, improving pollution forecasting and developing a model to assess traffic levels on roads.