More Communities Turn To ‘Wheel Tax’ As Means Of Funding Road Repair

A growing number of local governments are looking at fees known as “wheel taxes” to raise badly needed money for road and highway maintenance.

Local vehicle registration fees, also known as a wheel tax, are largely unpopular in Wisconsin, which is perhaps why only one county and three cities currently charge residents an extra $10 or $20 to register a car or light truck. This month, however, both the Appleton city council and Chippewa County Board passed respective wheel taxes of their own.

Chippewa County Administrator Frank Pascarella said the temporary fee is projected to raise $2.5 million over five years.

“The proposal we have today is looking at trying to develop a reasonable approach to funding winter maintenance, and (reimbursing) our fund balance so we can make ourselves whole after the five years,” he said.

Pascarella said that last year’s harsh winter took a heavy toll on roads, draining an extra $1 million from the highway department budget. He said the wheel tax will buy time for the county to find permanent solutions. And hopefully during that time, he said, state lawmakers will give counties more authority to raise money for roads.

“We do need some time to look at how we can address this issue, whether it’s internally or externally — externally, obviously through some legislative actions by the state, (and) internally, through efficiencies or changing how we provide the service to the citizens,” he said.

Pascarella said raising additional highway funds is something every county will have to deal with in the near future. In neighboring Eau Claire County, Administrator Tom McCarty said he’ll bring up wheel taxes during budget negotiations.