Supervisors only made a few comments about a proposed $20 annual wheel tax, when debate ended on a motion to table the issue until February.
Shawano County Supervisor Jeremy Gretzinger said at the Jan. 22 meeting that one of the big concerns he heard from his constituents is that the county is trying to slip this this past taxpayers without ample information given to them. He suggested the county host a public information meeting before the county board meets again Feb. 26.
“They want to see the numbers,” he said. “People have brought the lack of snowfall these past few years, and they’re like, ‘Where is that money going?’ Once we show where this money is being allocated for, I don’t think they’d have a problem with it.”
Supervisors voted 22-5 to end discussion and table the proposal until next month.
Public comments
A handful of county residents expressed their concerns before the board took the matter up for discussion.
“My property taxes went up this past year. The price of gas is up to $3 again, and you can’t even buy a dozen eggs for less than $5 in the store. Where does it end?” asked Timothy Massey, of the Town of Wescott. “My point is you can only squeeze so much out of a turnip, and then there’s no more juice. People like myself, retired, are on a fixed income and need to tighten our belts, and perhaps the highway department needs to as well.”
He said the highway department budgets a lot of money for snow removal, which he noted has been significantly less the past few years.
Massey said snow fences probably don’t need to be installed and removed every year, claiming the snow doesn’t last long. He said the department applies brine to the roads more than necessary.
He noted the state’s $4.6 billion surplus and said some of that money needs to be returned to municipalities.
The county needs to find a way for owners of ATVs and UTVs to pay, as they now use the roads, too. If the county need a wheel tax, it should apply to non-resident property owners as well, Massey said.
“With the amount of tourists on our county highways, it only seems fair that they should share the burden,” he said.
Town of Navarino resident Jon Zuiches said his gas tax and registration fee tax already pays for roads.
“Retirees like myself get a 2.5% increase in our Social Security this year,” he said. “For mine, it’s $40 more a month. That’s only $480 a year. Now you want to squeeze more out of us.”
He noted that 13 Wisconsin counties and 38 cities have a wheel tax.
“I feel that the money they’re (highway department) getting now already, it’s being wasted a little bit,” he said. “They have to learn within a budget just like I do.”
For example, he cited the grading of gravel three times a summer along County Road K and state Highway 156.
“That’s not cost effective,” Zuiches said. “If there’s that much grass, you get some chemical out there and spray it. You don’t need to be roughing the gravel up every couple weeks.”
Former Supervisor Peter Schmidt, a Bonduel resident, encouraged the county to be more transparent about where this money will go — just saying highways and bridges is pretty vague, he said.
“There’s lots of other municipalities going to that, because it’s the easy way to solve a tough problem instead of going to the taxpayers for a levy increase,” he said. “We are afraid to do that.”
Schmidt said a $20 tax won’t solve the county’s financial problems.
“If you want to be realistic about giving money to fix our roads like we did in 1990, you’re going to need at least a $100 wheel tax to be considered effective,” he said.
As for the state surplus, he reminded supervisors the state already tied increases in sales tax revenue to increases in shared revenue. He said the sales tax revenue has increased every year, except once in 2009.
“Shawano County, we are gray. We are not blue, purple or red. We’re gray,” Schmidt said. “We have a retirement community. We have a lot of tourists. We should be looking at the whole pie.”
He said there are ways to be flexible within the limits of the law. For example, city residents, who will pay a $40 wheel tax to the city starting next year, can be reimbursed the amount of the county wheel tax.
He told supervisors they are supposed to be leaders and make the hard decisions.
“A wheel tax is the easy way to show we’re doing something, but we’re not being serious,” he said.
County discussion
With about 37,350 eligible vehicles in the county, a tax of $20 would generate $747,000 in annual revenue.
When supervisors finally took the matter up for discussion, a few made clarifying statements about some comments from the public.
Supervisor Terry Tipton, speaking on behalf of the highway and parks committee, noted that state law exempts the Amish and farmers driving agricultural equipment on roads from a wheel tax.
“This is a way everyone can contribute,” Tipton said. “I’m not looking forward to paying more for it either, but the condition of the roads and bridges isn’t getting any better.”
He acknowledged the receipt of state shared revenue but also said the state is still holding back on a lot of funds municipalities can’t access.
Supervisor Randy Young said he was going to propose an amendment to eliminate city of Shawano residents from the tax but was told by Corporation Counsel Larenda Maulson the tax has be applied evenly to all vehicle owners.
Supervisor Joe Miller asked Maulson what effect, if any, the issue would have on tribal members living on tribal trust land.
“With regards to tribal members and tribal registration, those are not eligible to be taxed through this wheel tax,” she said.
That didn’t change Miller’s mind.
“I’m still going to vote no,” he said. “I made up my mind when I first heard this thing being presented. I’m going to stick to my guns on this and oppose it.
“The Stockbridge-Munsee Community over the course of many, many, many years has contributed to the roads and infrastructure of this county second to none other than the county. It’s important for everybody in this county to understand our little bitty community out west does in contributing to the road system.”
County Board Chairman Tom Kautza acknowledged that contribution.
“We do appreciate what the Stockbridge has donated, Joe,” he said. “It’s a great benefit for us.”
Supervisor Kathy Luebke said local municipalities need to go after the stat about the levy limits and other measures.
“They keep pushing unfunded mandates on the county level,” she said. “We need to stop this. We can’t just accept that all the time. Enough’s enough.”
Supervisor Al Kuhn wondered if the county could apply a 2-cents-per-gallon gasoline tax. He said tourists and residents would pay, it would be applied to all fuel grades, and it would generate more money and be available year after year.
“You’re paying $3 a gallon now,” he said. “Another 6 cents ain’t going to make or break anybody.”
Jim Davel, administrative coordinator, reminded supervisors he told them in October the county needed to be creative with increasing its revenues.
“We have cost increases, significant cost increases,” he said.
Nobody likes the idea of another tax, he said. State levy limits make it difficult with what county does, and all departments took a 3% cut during the budget process.
“This benefits all of our departments, because when you look at it, then we can take that levy that we would normally give highway and transition that across the board to our other departments that are struggling,” Davel said.“You do not want to get into a pattern where you borrow every single year.”
Tipton said the highway and parks committee would set up a public information meeting in the next few weeks.
kpasson@newmedia-wi.com
Board puts brakes on wheel tax proposal
