Sullivan County wheel tax is back on the road again

http://www2.tricities.com/news/2012/jul/16/sullivan-county-wheel-tax-back-road-again-ar-2059417/

BLOUNTVILLE, Tenn. — The wheel tax is back.

In June, the Sullivan County Budget Committee discussed a wheel tax, but after the proposal was discussed publicly, they dropped the idea.

Now, Commissioners Cathy Armstrong, of Bristol, and Dwight King, of Piney Flats, want to keep the idea alive. So they are sponsoring a resolution that would place the wheel tax proposal on the November ballot.

“We could have done it ourselves, but I don’t want to put it on the back of 24 commissioners,” King said.

The first reading of the resolution goes before the commissioners at today’s regular board meeting. The proposal calls for a $25 tax on passenger vehicles, a $50 tax on commercial vehicles and a $15 tax on all other vehicles.

Commissioner John Crawford, of Kingsport, had in June proposed a $25 tax on all vehicles. Wheel taxes, used by 61 of Tennessee’s 95 counties, are paid each year when a vehicle is registered. At the time, several commissioners supported the idea, saying it was more favorable than a property tax increase. The original proposal was for the commissioners to adopt the tax.

Resident complaints about the tax were in part behind the board’s decision to drop the idea.

But King said he has spoken with many of the county’s property owners who have expressed concerns that the tax burden is unfair in Sullivan County, and a wheel tax might offer some balance.

“There are a lot of voters who say they are tired of these freeloaders and want them to pay taxes,” King said.

King said while it’s true that many landlords pass the cost of property taxes on to their tenants, that is not the case with people who live in subsidized housing...BLOUNTVILLE, Tenn. — The wheel tax is back.

In June, the Sullivan County Budget Committee discussed a wheel tax, but after the proposal was discussed publicly, they dropped the idea.

Now, Commissioners Cathy Armstrong, of Bristol, and Dwight King, of Piney Flats, want to keep the idea alive. So they are sponsoring a resolution that would place the wheel tax proposal on the November ballot.

“We could have done it ourselves, but I don’t want to put it on the back of 24 commissioners,” King said.

The first reading of the resolution goes before the commissioners at today’s regular board meeting. The proposal calls for a $25 tax on passenger vehicles, a $50 tax on commercial vehicles and a $15 tax on all other vehicles.

Commissioner John Crawford, of Kingsport, had in June proposed a $25 tax on all vehicles. Wheel taxes, used by 61 of Tennessee’s 95 counties, are paid each year when a vehicle is registered. At the time, several commissioners supported the idea, saying it was more favorable than a property tax increase. The original proposal was for the commissioners to adopt the tax.

Resident complaints about the tax were in part behind the board’s decision to drop the idea.

But King said he has spoken with many of the county’s property owners who have expressed concerns that the tax burden is unfair in Sullivan County, and a wheel tax might offer some balance.

“There are a lot of voters who say they are tired of these freeloaders and want them to pay taxes,” King said.

King said while it’s true that many landlords pass the cost of property taxes on to their tenants, that is not the case with people who live in subsidized housing...

Everyone should post and remind Sullivan County Commission Dwight King that the county wheel tax that he is now advocating is "freeloading" in the sense that his wheel tax proposal is based not on the value of a car owned by a Sullivan County resident, but based merely ownership of a motor vehicle.