Voters advise Milwaukee County: No $60 wheel tax
Milwaukee County voters by a large margin Tuesday rejected an advisory referendum that asked them if they supported a total $60 county wheel tax to help pay costs of public transit and major transportation projects.
The referendum lost with 72% voting "no" and 28% voting "yes," according to preliminary returns.
In March, vehicle owners in the county started paying a $30 per vehicle registration fee as part of a 2017 budget adopted by the County Board.
MORE ELECTION COVERAGE: State school superintendent | Milwaukee Municipal Court | Milwaukee County Circuit Court | Milwaukee School Board | West Allis-West Milwaukee School District
ELECTION RESULTS: Statewide and Milwaukee area | Appleton | Fond du Lac | Green Bay | Manitowoc | Marshfield | Oshkosh | Sheboygan | Stevens Point | Wausau | Wisconsin Rapids
While County Executive Chris Abele had recommended a $60 annual registration fee beginning this year as a dedicated source of funding for transit and road and bridge repairs, the board cut the wheel tax by half and placed the referendum question on the spring election ballot.
The referendum was Abele's opportunity "to sell the public on his $60 wheel tax proposal," County Board Chairman Theodore Lipscomb Sr. said Tuesday.
Abele said last month at a public forum that a resounding "no" vote would not deter him from recommending a $60 wheel tax for 2018.
Facing a decline in state shared revenue payments to the county over the last several years, Abele said the $60 amount is needed to sustain transit services and transportation projects.
On Tuesday, Abele did not back down. "I've said repeatedly that I don't love the idea of a wheel tax," he said. "But what I like a lot less is cutting transit" and delaying needed infrastructure improvements.
Lipscomb said, "Without public support for his $60 wheel tax, it's hard to imagine supervisors going along with him and dramatically increasing the wheel tax, even if that's what Abele proposes again."
A $30 fee is expected to generate nearly $13.5 million this year, according to county budget officials. The revenue is divided with $11.5 million going to bus transit operating costs and $2 million for rehabilitation of county roads and bridges.
A $60 fee would have generated around $27.1 million this year, according to a report from County Comptroller Scott Manske.
Manske has warned the County Board that revenue from a $60 registration fee would not be sufficient to balance transit expenses in just a few years without increases in bus fares or route cuts.
The $30 county vehicle registration fee is paid in addition to the $75 fee collected by the state. City of Milwaukee vehicle owners also pay a $20 city wheel tax. Vehicle owners in the city this year will pay a total of $125 in vehicle registration fees.
Don Behm can be reached at don.behm@jrn.com and twitter.com/conserve.
