Seattle City Council is scheduled to vote Tuesday on a proposed $10 increase to Vehicle License Fees (VLF), bringing the total to $50.

If passed, the increase would take effect on July 1, 2023. The increase would bring an estimated $2 million in additional funding in 2023, and an estimated $4 million in additional funding annually starting in 2024 for transportation-related improvements.

The proposed bill, CB 120459, is sponsored by Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda.

“We need to be able to add funding so that we can create safe routes to schools, healthy ways for folks to use a stroller or a walker on our Seattle streets, and reduce the chance that a vehicle will ever strike a pedestrian or cyclist,” City Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda explained.

Councilmember Mosqueda said she's hopeful this would be a temporary increase, and the city is looking at other forms of revenue to offset the cost.

VLF are applied when residents pay for car registration. Twenty dollars in fees currently go towards “maintenance and preservation, as well as safety and enhancements to our existing transportation system, and contributes about $8 million annually,” according to the city website.

A Seattle Department of Transportation spending plan lists priorities for that funding, including safety, equity, and maintaining city streets, sidewalks and bridges.

If the proposed $10 increase is approved, it would be the second boost to the fund in recent years. The Seattle Department of Transportation expects the existing fee will raise $15.5 million in 2022 for road maintenance and preservation work on city streets, sidewalks and bridges.

“I would say it’s expensive to own a car in Seattle right now,” driver Lance Litzenberger said.

Litzenberger and other drivers who paid their car registration Monday in South Seattle were shocked to pay hundreds of dollars, and hear the price could go up when they return next year.

“Ten dollars isn’t the worst but I feel like it just keeps going,” Litzenberger said.

In November 2020, Seattle City Council signed off on doubling VLF from $20 to $40. The increased fees were implemented in the second half of 2021.

The increases come at a time when the cost of driving in Washington continues to increase. The price of a new license plate just increased in July from $10 to $50.

“Gas is getting expensive, tires, all of it, so just another thing to add to it is tabs,” Litzenberger said.

Tuesday's City Council meeting is scheduled to start at 2 p.m.