Franklin County residents will see an increase in vehicle title fees starting Sept. 1.
The Franklin County Board of Commissioners passed a resolution at the end of July to authorize the county Clerk of Courts to increase vehicle title fees from $18 to $23.
On June 30, 2025, Ohio House Bill 96 was signed into law, which allowed a fee increase on vehicle titles effective Jan. 1, 2026. That bill included a mandatory $3 increase to the vehicle title fee statewide reserved solely for the Security, Investigations, and Policing Fund administered by the Ohio State Highway Patrol.
The bill also authorized a $5 increase to the vehicle title fee at the county level, allowing Ohio counties to adopt a new title fee.
In a memorandum submitted by Richard Simms,
director of the Franklin County Clerk of Courts Auto Title Division, the commissioners were informed that the division has not seen a fee increase reserved for the Certificate of Title Administration Fund since July 2009.
A $23 title issuance fee is well below the average title issuance fee of $48.50 for the top 10 most populous states, the memorandum states. Ohio still provides same-day title issuance, while Indiana has a standard $15 title issuance fee with a waiting period of up to 21 days for processing and mailing.
The increase to a $23 fee "represents a balanced and measured adjustment that maintains affordability while helping preserve service levels and operational stability of the Franklin County Clerk of Courts Auto Title Division," the memorandum states.
From 2010 to 2025, according to the memorandum, the auto title division has seen an overall increase in expenses of about 82%, with wages increasing by approximately 63%, employer health care costs by around 93%, and materials and services by around 135%.
Over that period, auto title revenue increased by approximately 38%.
So far in 2026, 380,446 titles have been issued, Simms told The Dispatch in an email. In 2025, there were around 597,000 total titles, and five years earlier in 2020 there were around 489,000 titles issued.
In 2025, title transfers generated $8.6 million in revenue, compared to $7.8 million in 2024.
Expenses amounted to around $8.5 million in 2025, compared to $6.7 million in 2020 and $5.5 million in 2015.
Dispatch reporter Nora Igelnik can be reached at nigelnik@dispatch.com.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Franklin County vehicle title fees set to increase on Sept. 1
