Wheel tax plans cruise in Crown Point, Munster

The Crown Point City Council approved 5-2 a wheel tax of $25 per passenger vehicle and $40 per commercial vehicle for city residents when it met Monday. The tax goes into effect Jan. 1 and is expected to raise more than $1.1 million the first year, according to officials. Council President Laura Sauerman, R-4th, and freshman Councilman Scott Evorik, R-at large, voted against the tax.

A handful of residents came out to speak against the tax, one of whom, Jennifer Roark, carried a "No CP Wheel Tax" sign.

Roark said the tax is unfair to city residents who will have to pay while others outside the city, who still use city roads, will not. She said that is especially true for commercial businesses that have offices in Crown Point but whose vehicles, often trucks, are registered in the city where the business is headquartered.

"It's going to be primarily on the residents," Roark said.

In Munster, the Town Council approved on first reading a tax and surcharge on all types of motorized vehicles at its meeting Monday, with exceptions for state-owned vehicles, including school buses, or those operated by religious or nonprofit youth organizations.

"I'm not happy about this at all," Councilman David Nellans, R-4th, said. "We're backed into a corner."

Nellans said that with significant reductions from the state to fund road repairs, the town has struggled financially to maintain its streets over the past several years.

The town council voted 5-0 to pass the tax, which will be considered for adoption on second reading at its next meeting on June 20.

Under a new state law, communities with a population greater than 10,000 in a county that does not levy a motor vehicle surtax or wheel tax can impose a tax at a local level.

The proposed tax works two ways, officials said. The surtax applies to passenger vehicles, motorcycles and trucks under a gross weight of 11,000 pounds. The state statue calls for a maximum allowable tax of $25 per vehicle.

The tax applies to buses, recreational vehicles, farm tractors, semitrailers and trucks, capped at $40 per vehicle by state statute.

Munster is seeking the maximum allowable tax under both vehicle classifications, which town officials estimate can raise more than $500,000 annually.

Crown Point officials say is a move to jump-start a long-term road maintenance and replacement program.

The tax will be reduced to $15 per passenger vehicle and $25 per commercial vehicle in its second year in Crown Point. A provision within the ordinance calls for the tax to be reconsidered each year.

Crown Point Mayor David Uran urged the city council to approve the tax saying it will be the only way the city can get ahead of growing road maintenance and repair needs. Officials outlined those needs in an almost 90-minute presentation on the wheel tax, its potential impact and the state of the city's roads.

"We have been charged with making what is not a popular decision but it is the right one," Uran said.

Gregory Guerrettaz of Financial Solutions Inc., Crown Point's financial planner, said a wheel tax is nothing new, but the matching funds that go along with it are new. Currently, 47 of the state's 92 counties have a wheel tax.

Each year the Crown Point budgets approximately $300,000 from the general fund along with around $270,000 it receives in motor vehicle highway funds from the state for road repairs. Guerrettaz said neither of those figures is guaranteed.

Munster Town Manager Dustin Anderson presented an evaluation of Munster's roads based on the Indiana Department of Transportation's (INDOT) Technical Assistance Program Pavement Surface Evaluation Rating system. The report identifies more than $20 million in potential road maintenance work.

"The magnitude is great, but the roads in Munster are probably a little better than elsewhere," Anderson said, noting Munster's roads rank an average of 5 on a 10-point scale.

Crown Point Councilman Robert Clemons, R-2, urged fellow council members to consider the big picture when making what he described as a difficult decision.

"The numbers tonight show me it's needed and long overdue," Clemons said, adding a vote for the tax is telling constituents you want to take care of the roads and a vote against tells people you do not.

"If we fail to do this, every one of us should resign because we are not doing our jobs," Clemons said.