House plan would hike license plate fees for parks

SPRINGFIELD — Illinois license plates would cost $2 more per year to help finance state parks under a plan the House will consider.

The measure has been proposed as an alternative to a parks fee imposed by the Department of Natural Resources.

The (Bloomington) Pantagraph reported that some fear that charging park users a fee would be hard to police and could drive down attendance.

Natural Resources Director Marc Miller says his agency has a budget of $49 million but needs about $80 million. Fee revenue would be split between park maintenance and operations.

The basic annual license plate fee is $99. It was last increased by $20 in 2009 for a $33 billion capital construction program.