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Milwaukee County Residents Would Pay $30 Wheel Tax in 2017

Michelle Maternowski
It's budget adoption day for the Milwaukee County Board

Update:  The Milwaukee County Board on Monday approved  a $30 wheel tax as part of its 2017 budget deliberations.  The money collected from the additional vehicle registration fee would go toward closing a revenue gap in the transportation budget and major purchases, such as new buses.  

The Milwaukee Board of Supervisors meets Monday to adopt a county budget for 2017. One controversial item is County Executive Chris Abele’s proposal to charge a $60 vehicle registration fee. Abele says the $60 per auto would go a long way toward plugging a $56 million budget shortfall.

He says there are several reasons for the deficit; they include increasing costs for employees’ pensions and health care, along with a shortage in transit revenue. The county started offering free bus rides to seniors, but it has resulted in bus fare revenue coming up $7 million short of what’s needed.

At public hearings, many people weren’t happy with the idea, and some said they couldn’t afford $60, especially when the state charges $75 to register a vehicle. And, if you live in the city of Milwaukee, it tacks on $20.

The board’s finance committee voted unanimously last week to reduce the fee from $60 to $30, a compromise that Board Chairman Theo Lipscomb had pushed. Lipscomb says his amendment acknowledges that the county has no other new sources of revenue available to help pay for transit services and new buses. The County Board will consider the amendment in its deliberations today.

In other budget items, the county would pay for its Crisis Resource Centers to operate around-the-clock. They act as emergency rooms for individuals experiencing a mental health crisis. The budget also earmarks $2 million to expand a program to end chronic homelessness. Its goal is to move all homeless people into apartments by 2018.

In addition, the budget would invest $600,000 in neighborhoods with high poverty and unemployment rates. For instance, some money would go toward the Boys and Girls Club in Sherman Park. It provides recreational and career activities for young people.

The county executive says his budget contains no increase for the average household, over this year.

Marti was a reporter with WUWM from 1999 to 2021.