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Electric/hybrid car registration fees implemented

'If anybody in here has an electric vehicle or hybrid vehicle, brace yourself for that when you get ready to renew your tag.' Donna Thomas, Bedford County Clerk”

Growth is here and coming full speed.
Discussions and reports at the Bedford County Board of Commissioners meeting Tuesday night all came back full circle to the growth of Bedford County.
The Commission said now is a critical time for the Tennessee Department of Transportation to continue the expansion of state route (By-Pass) 437.
Commissioner John Boutwell presented resolution 2415-one intended for state officials-that requests for the expedited expansion of the by-pass.
Boutwell said it is thought the target area would be Highway 41A North (the El Bethel community area.) The resolution was approved by 17 of the 18 commissioners. Commissioner Drew Hooker was absent.
Boutwell said he had contacted State Rep. Pat Marsh and they learned from Tennessee Department of Transportation officials that the by-pass expansion phase was currently “dormant” and has been since 2017.
“It’s just not on the radar with the state . . . funding not there,” said Boutwell.
Boutwell said this state highway expansion, he believes, would ease traffic congestion for Shelbyville and Bedford County therefore making it easier for residents and tourists to access Highways 231 North and 41A North.
The resolution points out how the heart of Bedford County’s commercial retail is currently off those state highways. He said and of course there’s more coming to 231 North-the new MTSU aviation school, the new Tennessee College of Applied Technology, the new Cartwright Elementary and likely more retail, as a result.
The expansion was also initially intended to go out to Highway 64 West. But discussions last night indicated that phase of expansion is still questionable.
“I was told it had something to do with that next leg over to 64 West,” said Mayor Chad Graham. “They have to cross over the river . . . .”
So, the phase still rests in the hands of TDOT.
That didn’t deter the County from making its request known to the state.
Commissioners voted to send this resolution on to TDOT Commissioner Butch Eley. Commissioner Linda Yockey asked if this resolution was also being sent to State Rep. Pat Marsh.
“Who does this resolution go to?” asked Commissioner Yockey. “I don’t want to leave Pat out of the loop since he was so effective on helping us with the other part.”
Pat’s desk is the first stop, the mayor reported.
Mayor Chad Graham said it was his understanding the resolution would go to TDOT and Marsh and State Sen. Shane Reeves would be copied. The governor’s office would also receive a copy of the resolution.
This resolution highly emphasizes to TDOT how important this By-pass expansion is to the economic development of Bedford County-an area certainly with growing transportation needs.
Boutwell said stakeholders are also urged to become involved in this process. The project is deemed “critical” for the successful future growth of Bedford County.
County Clerk report
County Clerk Donna Thomas said during her report that year to date through March 31, there were 57,709 transactions in her office. She said that’s pretty flat compared to last year.
Thomas said total collected money in the County Clerk’s office was $5.3 million which is up about 25%. Some changes in law have inflated those numbers a bit over last year, she said.
Last year, the governor gave a discount on registration fees, Thomas said. The increase is also due to fees added on to electric vehicle registrations.
She added that as of Jan. 1, a law went into effect that all electric vehicles owners upon renewing their plate would have a $200 electric fee. There is a $100 fee for hybrid vehicles.
“If anybody in here has an electric vehicle or hybrid vehicle, brace yourself for that when you get ready to renew your tag.”
There was though good news for the County.
“As far as revenue for Bedford County, right now, year to date, that’s $754,000 which is up 9% over last year. That is largely due to an earmark fee, which went into effect last July, which is $3 per title, which is retained in our restricted fund for county clerk use.”
She said the increase is also due to the fact that her office gets a lot of passport fees. She said that service is through the roof right now.