Drivers in unincorporated Snohomish County will pay $20 more per year to register their vehicles starting in early 2027. County officials say the fee's approval has preserved matching funds for dozens of road projects that were about to be shelved.
The Snohomish County Council approved the new annual vehicle license fee on Aug. 12, creating a Transportation Benefit District (TBD) expected to generate about $6 million a year. At a press conference Sept. 10 near the Snohomish River Bridge, officials said the fee rescued matching funds for grant-funded projects across the county's 1,600 miles of roads and 210 bridges. Everett residents don't pay the fee directly, but many commute on county-maintained roads that connect to the city.
Snohomish County Public Works spokesperson Kira Cox said at the event that without the TBD, the county would have had to abandon its grant-funded projects and redirect matching funds toward basic maintenance and operations.
Tom Teigen, an executive director at Snohomish County, said 40 construction or maintenance projects have been reduced or deferred, some pushed a decade or more into the future, because of rising costs.
The Snohomish River Bridge repair is one of those rescued projects.
The $8.2 million job, largely funded by a federal grant, will protect the bridge's piers from erosion. The bridge sat in the path of record flooding in December 2025, when the Snohomish River rose 9 feet above major flood stage. Repairs are expected to be finished by 2028.
The structural gap
Officials call the fee a "Band-Aid." Snohomish County Public Works manages 1,600 miles of roads, 210 bridges and more than 200 traffic signals across unincorporated areas.
Budgets for operations and capital improvements have been cut by $110 million, and 74 full-time positions remain unfilled, according to the county's TBD information page.
The county's road levy, its primary road-funding source, brought in about $77 million in 2026 at a rate of $0.75 per $1,000 of assessed value. That equals roughly $574 a year for a median-valued home of $765,000, according to the county's road levy page. But the Seattle-area Construction Price Index has climbed about 40% over four years, outpacing the county's capped 1% annual property tax increase.
Public Works was projecting a $9 million deficit before the car tab fee was approved, according to County Executive Dave Somers' Sept. 3 budget address. The TBD alone does not fully close that gap. The county says the revenue will not fund new capital projects or increase service levels.
State grants and budget hearings ahead
Snohomish County Council member and state Rep. Sam Low, who spoke at the Sept. 10 press conference, said he hopes a new state grant program called the Local Road Program, administered by the County Road Administration Board, will bring additional money to counties statewide.
"You can only squeeze back so far before you put the safety of the public at risk," Low said, noting the county has already cut staff and reduced costs.
The $20 fee applies only to vehicles registered in unincorporated Snohomish County. Vehicles registered within city limits, including Everett, are not affected. Collection begins in the first quarter of 2027 and will appear on annual registration renewal bills from the Washington State Department of Licensing.
The County Council is reviewing Somers' proposed 2027–28 biennial budget through September, with public hearings set for October. As we reported Sept. 9, the council set an Oct. 20 hearing on the $3.37 billion spending plan. A final budget vote could come in November.
