The wheel tax enacted by the Gillett City Council in January has raised $10,000 for the city’s street repairs, but some town of Gillett residents question why they are being charged the $20 fee.
The city has been collecting the wheel tax since July, charging $20 to owners of vehicles registered in the city, including cars, vans, SUVs and light trucks.
But town of Gillett residents, like Julie Rost, also see the $20 charge on their registration renewal notices sent by the state Department of Motor Vehicles.
“You’re taxing the wrong people,” Rost recalled telling Gillett City Hall after checking her notice. Though the city has a right to tax its residents to pay for street work, town residents shouldn’t be asked to contribute, too, she said.
“How many people did this happen to?” she said.
That question couldn’t be answered by City Clerk/Treasurer Beth Rank, who said City Hall hasn’t kept track of the number of complaints it receives from town residents about the tax error.
Numbers weren’t available, either, from Philip “Tom” Thomas, motor vehicle program specialist with the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, although he did explain in an email why town residents were being taxed.
He said the Department of Motor Vehicles collects wheel taxes based on where a vehicle is customarily kept, as recorded on the application for a vehicle title and registration. If this information is not provided, DMV uses the registrant’s post office address for the vehicle location.
“So, a wheel tax charged incorrectly to a person in a neighboring community does sometimes occur,” he said.
Registration postcards sent to Gillett vehicle owners include a message explaining the wheel tax. The message says the registration fee includes a $20 fee collected on behalf of the city of Gillett. People with questions about the fee are encouraged to contact the Gillett clerk/treasurer. On the back of the notice are instructions regarding how to change the vehicle location information.
Rank said town residents who call City Hall are instructed how to change the municipality on the postcard and are told they do not need to pay the $20 fee. For town residents who already paid the $20 wheel tax, no refund policy is in effect, she said.
Residents who falsify information on the registration form can be issued a citation and fined not more than $200 or imprisoned not more than six months or both, according to state law.
The wheel tax was enacted as a method to generate funds for a list of costly street updates in the city of Gillett, on Birch Street, Orchard Circle, First Street and County Road BB in 2017 or 2018 and state Highway 22 in 2022 or 2023.
The tax is projected to raise about $38,000 annually, based on the estimate of 1,900 registered vehicles in the city. Rank did not know how many residents had already paid the fee for their vehicles.
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