EVERETT — The Snohomish County Council on Wednesday approved a new $20 annual vehicle license fee on cars registered in unincorporated areas, a measure expected to generate about $6 million a year for road and bridge maintenance.
“Let me be clear: I do not take adding a cost for residents lightly, especially at a time when families are already feeling stretched,” Chair Megan Dunn released in a statement. “But the reality is that doing nothing is not free. The cost of maintaining our roads, bridges, and traffic signals has risen dramatically while traditional transportation revenues have not kept pace. Public Works has already made significant reductions, and continuing to defer basic maintenance will only lead to more costly repairs in the future.”
Ordinance 26-009 passed on a 3-2 vote, with Councilmembers Nate Nehring and Jared Mead voting no. The fee, authorized by the county’s transportation benefit district, will apply only to vehicles registered in unincorporated Snohomish County and will not be collected until six months after the ordinance takes effect which is expected by the end of August after it is signed by the County Executive Dave Somers.
Somers strongly urged the council on Wednesday to approve the measure, describing the county’s 1,600-mile road network in unincorporated areas as a critical lifeline for residents, businesses, schools and first responders. He shared that construction costs from 2000 through 2020 have risen approximately 70% and another 70% from 2020 to 2025.
Snohomish County Public Works has already reduced operations and capital budgets by $110 million and is holding 74 full-time positions vacant. The primary existing revenue source, the Road Levy, generated about $75.2 million in 2025 — roughly four cents of every property-tax dollar collected in the county. That levy is capped at 1% annually, well below recent rate of inflation Somers shared.
This coupled with declining gas revenues, due to increase electric/hybrid vehicle use forced the county to act with a new $20 annual vehicle license.
“This $20 annual fee for unincorporated residents provides a dedicated local resource to protect our transportation infrastructure, helps us leverage and keep already secured state and federal transportation dollars, and ensures we can continue maintaining the roads our residents rely on every day,” said Dunn.
A companion measure, Ordinance 26-031, which would have imposed a separate 0.1% sales and use tax for 10 years to raise an estimated $5 million annually for the same Road Fund, was referred back to the Public Infrastructure and Conservation Committee on a unanimous 5-0 vote.
