Tax plan fails

BROWNSTOWN - Jackson County Council members narrowly rejected the proposed implementation of a wheel tax to shore up declining roadwork funds Wednesday evening.

"I believe we can look within current funding sources to solve these problems," council President Andy Fountain said minutes before calling for a vote on the proposal to implement a Local Option Highway User Tax.

Fountain voted against the proposal, along with councilmen Charlie Murphy, Matt Reedy and Brian Thompson. Councilwoman Debbie Hackman, who originally brought up the issue several months ago, voted in favor of the so-called wheel tax, along with councilmen Greg Prange and J.L. Brewer.

The recession has led to less gasoline usage, which in turn has led to less gasoline tax revenue. That revenue is used to fund the repaving of roads and maintenance of the 764 miles of roads in the county.

Hackman's proposal called for a tax of $20 per car and $7.50 per motorcycle. Owners of passenger cars and light trucks (weighing less than 11,000 pounds) would have paid $20 a year, while buses, recreational vehicles and heavier trucks would have paid $25 annually.

If passed at those rates, the tax would have generated about $700,000 to use for maintaining 764 miles of roads in the county. The tax also would have netted about another $197,000 to be shared by Brownstown, Crothersville, Medora and Seymour.

Hackman said she was not in favor of any new tax, but made the proposal because the highway department presently has enough funding to pave about 10 miles of road a year.

"It would take us about 80 years to repave every road," she said.

Hackman's motion also called for the county to submit the new tax after July 1, which meant it couldn't have been implemented before 2011. She said that would give the county more time to track revenue. If submitted before June 30, the tax would have become effective Jan. 1, 2010.

Hackman said that without the wheel tax revenue, county roads would continue to deteriorate.

"The roads are going to go bad," she said.

Hackman said the county could not let the roads go back to gravel because the base of each was made for pavement, and poor road conditions will lead to slower response times by police and emergency crews. The roads also would get to the point where they could not be snowplowed, she added.

In the past, interim county highway superintendent Warren Martin said he would have about $700,000 for repaving this year, in part by using $450,000 in reserves. Reserves will be exhausted if he pulls the same amount out of reserves in 2010, he said.

Fountain said he, Murphy and Reedy met with financial consultant Eric Reedy (Matt Reedy's brother) earlier in the day.

"He gave us some updates and numbers, and some suggestions," Fountain said.

He said Eric Reedy's suggestions for coming up with additional money for roadwork from existing sources include the possibility of using cumulative capital development funds every year or cutting the tax rate on the bridge fund by half a percent and shifting that money for roadwork.

"There are some ways he suggested that we could free up about $500,000 a year," Fountain said. "If we could do that, I think it would be a huge step in getting the highway department where it needs to be."

Fountain said he believes the county needs to have good roads and something needs to be done to fund roadwork.

Thompson said he is an optimist and does not believe the shortfall in gas tax revenue will last forever.

He added he also would like to see a plan for the county highway department to become more efficient before he would vote for a new tax.

Murphy said he has worked for the same company for 30 years and helped run it for 20 and cutbacks have had to be made by the company over the years.

"I can't support it," Murphy said.

Prange said adopting the tax would allow the county to have local control over revenues.

A public hearing was held prior to the vote on the tax. More than a dozen people spoke against it, while two spoke in favor of it.

Ken Spoor of Seymour said he did not favor another tax. "I just can't but think there's something else we can do," Spoor said.
Gretna Johnson, also of Seymour, said she encouraged council members to think of the little people and the impact on them before the tax is passed.

Richard Brackemyre of Reddington said he thought the tax was unfair because it treated every vehicle, old and new, the same.

"I encourage you to vote this down, and put the commissioners to work a little harder and find ways to save money," Brackemyre said.

Russell Fritz of Freetown said people already are being penalized by higher gasoline prices, and the wheel tax was going to penalize everyone who works.

"Experience shows that taxes don't come off," Fritz said.

Tom Callahan of rural Carr Township said he thought that council members should come up with some type of alternative funding before voting no on the proposal.

Gloria Baughman said she favored the tax as a less expensive alternative to roads with potholes that would lead to expensive repairs.