Gov. Wes Moore’s administration will introduce a series of vehicle-related fees, including a new 75-cent fee on online retail deliveries, to reverse hundreds of millions of dollars worth of cuts it proposed last fall to the state’s six-year transportation plan.

The fee increases are separate from the tax reform package Moore proposed Wednesday to help fill a nearly $3 billion deficit in the state’s general fund.

The independent transportation trust fund has also been severely depleted — forcing officials to pull back on new construction, defer maintenance in areas like sidewalk repairs and road improvements, and pause the planning stages of other projects.

The $1.3 billion in cuts announced in September invited a fierce backlash from Baltimore-area lawmakers, some of whom called them an “existential threat” to maintaining the city’s transportation network and for long-term goals like the Red Line light rail extension.

Maryland Transportation Secretary Paul Wiedefeld said the search for more money is intended to avoid deep cuts and lean into Moore’s message of “economic growth.”

“He is recommending that we pursue some different revenues to try to get at those core issues to make sure that we continue to be economically strong and deal with some major safety and maintenance — basic maintenance — issues that we need to do,” Wiedefeld told reporters before the release of the updated plan Wednesday.

What’s going to cost more?

Some proposed new fees or fee increases will need to be passed through legislation or the budget process, allowing lawmakers to change or potentially oppose some of the plans in the annual three-month session that will run through early April.

Wiedefeld said the governor will propose the retail delivery fee through his own legislation. The fee would apply to purchases made through Amazon or other businesses with at least $500,000 in annual retail sales. The 75 cents would be applied by the business directly for every individual transaction, regardless of the cost.

The idea is similar to one offered last year by House Democrats but that was shelved amid a larger discussion about transportation fees. A compromise plan instead included a new “transportation network company fee” — a 75-cent add-on to rideshares like Uber and Lyft — and vehicle registration increases.

Those registration increases would be expedited under the Moore administration’s latest plan, moving the timeline for their implementation from three years to two years in order to bring in money faster, Wiedefeld said.

Other changes for vehicle owners would be an increase in the emissions test fee from $14 to $30. Emissions tests are required every two years for vehicles that are 2018 models or older, while newer vehicles are on a six-year timeline if they were originally owned and titled in Maryland.

Another change would impact a “significant” number of vehicle purchases in the state, Wiedefeld said.

For transactions that involve trading in a used vehicle, the state would set a new cap in a law that allows buyers to pay less in titling taxes. Under current law, the tax can be reduced by subtracting the trade-in’s value from the purchased vehicle’s cost. Wiedefeld said the administration will look to permit that trade-in allowance only if the new vehicle costs $15,000 or less, which he said is the case in 40% of all transactions.

The secretary said the last notable change is a new administrative fee for anyone who pays their registration costs through an installment plan rather than all at once.

The proposal marks a shift for Moore, who has not introduced or openly supported increased taxes and fees to lift up the declining transportation budget.

Democratic lawmakers who control both chambers of the Maryland General Assembly have repeatedly stressed the importance of transportation investments and are likely to support the increases.

Republicans in the minority, meanwhile, have railed against similar fee increases. After the last legislative session, they released a list showing hundreds of what they called new or increased taxes and fees since Moore entered office, though only 10% of them were new and just four were intended to impact consumers directly.

Senate Minority Leader Steve Hershey, a Queen Anne’s County Republican involved in discussions about finding more sustainable transportation revenue, said the fees would work against Moore’s goal of boosting Maryland’s economic competitiveness. He said his caucus is looking closely at the cuts proposed throughout the new budget plan to see if there are other avenues for cost savings.

Where will the money go?

The changes aim to raise $420 million in new state funds and $695 million total annually when factoring in federal funding that the state will be better equipped to secure, Wiedefeld said.

It will ensure that previously stalled plans for bridge repairs, road resurfacing and other safety measures are funded, and that major projects like improving I-81 and U.S. 15 are advanced.

Improvements to Baltimore’s light rail system, including new rail vehicles, worth a total of $1.4 billion in the six-year plan will also be able to proceed as previously anticipated with both the new state funds and federal grants. However, lawmakers will need to pass legislation this session to make that change. Other investments include improvements and maintenance related to the Port of Baltimore and BWI Thurgood Marshall International Airport.

Next steps

The final version of the $21.2 billion six-year plan, known as the “consolidated transportation plan,” will be considered in the coming months alongside the separate $67.3 billion state budget proposal for the fiscal year beginning July 1.

Sen. Guy Guzzone, a Howard County Democrat who is his chamber’s top budget negotiator, said both major spending plans will be closely vetted to evaluate their costs to all types of Marylanders.

Though he did not say which proposals might have a better shot than others, he said he was “personally a little uncomfortable” with the retail delivery fee.

“We have to look at what each of those component parts are” and whether a roughly $1 charge for deliveries is consequential, Guzzone said.

“I guess it depends on how many times packages come to your door.”