RICHMOND, IN — In addition to the Wayne County Council’s public hearing Wednesday on Morrisson-Reeves Library, the council also failed to take final action on a proposed Local Option Highway User Tax, better known as a “wheel tax.”
The vote was required to be unanimous because council members had voted a 4-3 simple majority to amend the ordinance.
The amendment, proposed by councilman Gary Saunders, changed the ordinance to a 20% excise tax with a $7.50 minimum and a $40 flat fee wheel tax, different than the $80 originally being considered.
Council members Jeff Cappa, Beth Leisure and Misty Hollis voted against both the amendment and the ensuing vote to enact the tax.
Cappa said his decision to vote against the amended ordinance is because of his constituents’ concerns about the possibility of being double-taxed should the city of Richmond consider one, too, despite the fact the city would receive 40% of the money from the county tax and Richmond Mayor Ron Oler saying the city isn’t considering one this year.
Five members of the public, including Oler and Wayne County commissioner Jeff Plasterer, spoke in favor of the ordinance, with six others opposed, including Webster Township Trustee George Haskett.
This is the second time an ordinance on such a tax has been changed in two weeks, as county attorney Ron Cross said the last one considered a $50 excise tax per qualified vehicle and an $80 wheel tax per vehicle based on category and age.
Taxpayers wouldn’t have to pay both taxes. The surtax would charge taxpayers through license plate renewals on cars, vans and small trucks under 11,000 pounds, small trailers and other similar vehicles, and the wheel tax would apply to vehicles over 11,000 pounds, large trucks, large trailers, etc.
Vehicles that would be exempt in the proposed ordinance include state-owned vehicles, buses owned by schools, religious or nonprofit youth organizations, and funeral-related vehicles.
Council members Max Smith and Beth Leisure both said no one on the council wants to implement a new tax, but changes at the state level have forced their hand or else the county won’t get funding for bridges and road construction.
“The state has changed the situation,” Smith said. “A previous councilman that was here for many years said he always voted against it, but this year, ‘You’ve got to vote for it. You have no choice.’ With these changing conditions, that’s why we’re discussing it today.”
Council member Cathy Williams said the legislature has cut property taxes, and in return taxpayers are paying what they’re getting back elsewhere.
“It’s kind of playing the shell game,” she said. “They’re moving it from here to here but they want us to use the tools, the tools being this LOHUT, the surtax and the wheel tax. So really, they’re putting the money back in here but want us to take it out over here.”
Williams added that they don’t want it to be at a point where the county can answer every third 911 call or sheriff’s call.
“If we don’t have the money to run the county in general, we can’t do it,” she said.
Because the vote was not unanimous, the council plans to revisit the ordinance on Monday, Aug. 25.
Evan Weaver is a news and sports reporter at The Palladium-Item. Contact him on X (@evan_weaver7) or email at eweaver@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Richmond Palladium-Item: Amended Wayne County wheel tax ordinance voted down, will be revisited Monday
Reporting by Evan Weaver, Richmond Palladium-Item / Richmond Palladium-Item
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