SHAWANO (NBC 26) — Thursday, Shawano County officials held an informational meeting about the additional vehicle registration fee, or wheel tax, the board will vote on next week.
- Hear some of the questions people had about the possible new tax Thursday
- County officials said the county could get an additional $750,000 for road work projects from the wheel tax
- Trucks weighing more than 8,000 lbs., registered farm vehicles and certain military or collector license plates would be exempt from the wheel tax according to the state
- Shawano County Board Chair Thomas Kautza said the wheel tax would be a way to tax the population more evenly, rather than only taxing land property owners
(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story with changes for the web.)
A controversial tax is on the table in Shawano County. I'm Pari Apostolakos. At Thursday afternoon's informational meeting, county officials said they could get an additional $750,000 for road work with a "wheel tax," or a tax on registered vehicles. But many residents are against the idea.
13 counties in Wisconsin already charge an additional vehicle registration fee, or "wheel tax." The county fees range from $15 to $30 per car.
Shawano County's proposed $20 wheel tax would be the first county wheel tax in northeast Wisconsin. The city of Shawano, along with dozens of other Wisconsin cities, already charges a wheel tax.
"I live actually in the city of Shawano so I already got the $40 wheel tax," Tiffany Krell said after Thursday's informational meeting at the courthouse. "So, to add another $20 on to it just because I live in the city and in the county, it just doesn't seem fair."
Krell went to Thursday's information session to get her questions answered and share why she is against the wheel tax and she wasn't the only one.
Some meeting attendees asked the county to put the matter of the wheel tax to a vote, some questioned the county's budgeting process and some asked why the issue had to be decided within a week.
When one man asked for a show of hands Thursday, the majority of people at the meeting indicated they were against the county's wheel tax going through.
County officials say the projected $750,000 or so which would come in from the wheel tax would be for road projects and would help chip away at a $2 million budget deficit.
At Thursday's meeting the county board chair, administrative coordinator and highway commissioner said the deficit was caused by grant funding and American Rescue Plan Act funds drying up and fixed costs, like food at the county jail, becoming more expensive.
"The budget is projected to have a shortfall in the next budget and this would be a means, which is the only means left due to levee limits, that would raise money for services the county needs to provide," Terry Tipton, Shawano County Supervisor and Highway & Parks Committee Chairman said before the meeting began.
"The limits that the state put on us that you cannot increase property tax have been on for well over ten years now," Shawano County Board Chair Thomas Kautza told the crowd.
Trucks weighing more than 8,000 lbs., registered farm vehicles and certain military or collector license plates would be exempt from the wheel tax according to the state.
The county board will vote on whether or not to implement the wheel tax at their meeting on Feb. 26.
