Maryland Gov. Robert Ehrlich Jr. told Republican state lawmakers last week he would propose a transportation bill that avoids a fuel tax hike but increases the cost of buying or registering a vehicle, The Baltimore Sun reported.

GOP lawmakers say the two key provisions of the package will be an increase in registration fees and a higher titling tax on the purchase price of new and used vehicles.

Together, the two sources would bring the administration close to the $300 million a year in additional revenue a recent task force said was needed to replenish the depleted state Transportation Tax Fund.

Ehrlich outlined his revenue package at a meeting with Republican House members Jan. 26. According to The Sun, the governor and Maryland Transportation Secretary Robert Flanagan asked rural lawmakers to support his package.

Delegate Carmen Amedori, R-Westminster, said Flanagan outlined a series of cuts the administration had made to mass transit and indicated more was on the way. Amedori said Ehrlich and Flanagan assured the Republicans that the transportation plans would favor highways over mass transit.

“We have the governor’s word and Bob Flanagan’s word that this will be going into roads, not transit,” Amedori said.

Republican legislators said the title measure would be presented as a “graduated” surcharge rather than an increase in the 5 percent tax.

The surcharge amount would be determined by the cost of the vehicle but would not be computed as a percentage. Further details were not available.