Trumbull engineer advocates additional vehicle license tax

WARREN — Trumbull County commissioners have set public hearings for noon May 21 and 7 p.m. May 28 on a proposal by Engineer David DeChristofaro for a motor vehicle license tax of between $5 and $15 per year.

DeChristofaro is advocating the tax, but the commissioners decide whether to impose it, place it on the ballot or do nothing, DeChristofaro said.

DeChristofaro said the reason the tax is needed is that the extra money it would generate — between $500,000 and $2.5 million per year — could be used to secure federal and state grants that would allow his department to improve the condition of roads and bridges under his control.

DeChristofaro said he would be committed to using the extra revenue only as matching money to secure grants. Because the county doesn’t have the match money, it misses out on a lot of grants, he said.

“It’s really sickening to me to see all the federal and state dollars out there, and we can’t use any of it,” he said.

One way the roads would improve is that they would be paved more often. Another way is more county roads would be widened, DeChristofaro said.

Read more in Thursday’s Vindicator and Vindy.com