The Marathon County Board has voted to extend the county wheel tax indefinitely. The wheel tax is a $25 tax that is added on to vehicle registration fees, and is used for transportation funding throughout the county. Wednesday night’s vote was 26-4.
Two amendments were rejected before the extension of the wheel tax was approved. One was to have the board vote on the tax again in five years and the other was to have them vote again in one year.
Marathon County Administrator Brad Karger said he didn’t have an opinion either way.
“I think in one year we’d be having the same discussion because I don’t think enough would’ve changed. What happens in five years, I don’t know. Whether the board wants to earmark it and talk about it again, I’m fine with that. I think it should constantly be revisited. I think all of our revenue sources and all of our expenditures should be constantly revisited.”
With no formal date in place where the County Board is now forced to revisit the tax, Karger said there’s no telling how long the tax might remain in place.
Marathon County is the fifth county to have a wheel tax, joining Iowa, Milwaukee, St. Croix, and Chippewa. There are also 18 municipalities that have a wheel tax.
WSAU