The fate of the wheel tax depends on what the voters of Warren County decide at the polls in March.
The Warren County Commission narrowly passed a resolution Monday night to place a wheel tax referendum on the presidential primary ballot to be held March 6, 2012.
With two members absent, the vote was 12-10 to give the citizens of Warren County the opportunity to vote on whether to continue the $30 wheel tax which will expire in June 2012 after the bonds for Warren County High School and Hickory Creek Elementary are paid.
The current wheel tax, which generates around $1 million annually, was enacted in 1991 and was tied to the bonds to finance the high school and Hickory Creek.
With current school construction projects at Morrison and Dibrell, many county officials are in favor of continuing the wheel tax to help pay off those projects. The reasoning is once the wheel tax ends, the county would have to raise property taxes by around 20 cents to make up the difference in the budget.
Proponents of the wheel tax say of the more than 38,000 county residents only some 30 percent own property, while there are around 38,000 vehicles registered in Warren County, so a wheel tax spreads the tax out over more citizens rather than putting the majority of the tax burden on property owners.
However, the vote Monday was not about the fairness of the tax, or an effort to see if there are enough commissioners in favor of a wheel tax to pass it. It was about whether the public should decide to enact a wheel tax or if commissioners should decide for them.
It was this aspect of the issue which generated controversy.
Commissioner Charles Morgan asked if the wheel tax could be brought back before the commission even if it failed in the referendum. County Executive John Pelham addressed that issue.
“It could be put on the docket by a commissioner,” Pelham said. “But my opinion would be if the citizens of this county had already voted it down, I would think that would be very unlikely. Is it possible? It could happen, but I don’t see that it would pass.”
Morgan then asked if the resolution was voted down, could the commission put the wheel tax on the docket in the future.
“If we vote it down tonight to put it on the March ballot, I would anticipate it would come back up at some point,” Pelham said. “This is simply allowing the citizens of this county to vote yes or no on it,” Pelham said.
Commissioner Gary Prater then addressed the chairman.
“This wheel tax means a million dollars a year to Warren County, right?” Prater asked. “We’ve got less than 30 percent of people in Warren County that actually own property. We’ve got to come up with this million dollars some way. So we’re going to do away with the wheel tax if the people choose to, and we’re going to put the burden of this million dollars on the 30 percent of the people that own property.
“The wheel tax to me is the fairest tax we can put on anybody in this county,” Prater continued. “My personal opinion is we just need to extend it to pay these schools off. I’m sure the property owners would vote not to do away with it, but it’s the other 70 percent that don’t own property who are going to get a $30 break on their license plate. They’re the ones who are going to decide it. That’s 70 percent versus 30. You do the math. We shouldn’t even be voting to do this.”
Commissioner George Smartt agreed.
“Folks, we were elected to make decisions for the county,” Smartt said. “We should be voting tonight, this commission should be voting tonight, to institute the wheel tax to continue, instead of letting the people vote on it. Now I understand that several of you are concerned that if we do that, they’re going to get a petition up to vote on it, and that’s true. But again, we were elected to make those decisions. I voted for it, and I think every one of us should vote for it. But to hide behind letting the people vote on it I don’t think is the appropriate step tonight.”
Offering an opposing opinion to these views was Commissioner Terry Bell.
“We’ve been elected by the people. We’re supposed to do what the people want,” Bell said. “Why is everybody afraid to let the people vote on the wheel tax? If the people don’t want the wheel tax, it’s our job to make budgets without the wheel tax. If they want the wheel tax, then we’ll make budgets with it. That’s what America’s supposed to be, a democracy. Let the people vote, and whatever they decide, it’s our job to live with it. And I’ll support this resolution.”
When contacted yesterday about the question whether the commission could put the wheel tax on the docket even if it’s voted down by referendum, county attorney Larry Stanley had this to say.
“That’s a good question,” Stanley said. “I’ve thought about it some, and I think once it’s turned down by the people that’s the end of it. But I’m not really sure about that. That’s kind of a gray area. But it would be my opinion that unless someone can show me different somewhere, once they turn it down that’s it. Of course it could be brought up again the next year.”