Lawmakers concerned about wheel tax

A bipartisan pair of state lawmakers expressed concern Thursday about a $30 wheel tax taking effect next year in Milwaukee County.

Reps. Dale Kooyenga (R-Brookfield) and David Bowen (D-Milwaukee) — two legislators at opposite ends of the partisan spectrum  — said they were worried about the effect on families with multiple cars or low incomes.

Kooyenga pointed out that a husband and wife with two jobs and a teenage driver in the house might have three cars and a nearly $100 cost.

"That's a big hit to a family," he said.

Meanwhile, Bowen, a former Milwaukee County Board supervisor, pointed to the fact that a single mother with a rusty compact car would pay as much under the wheel tax as the owner of a new luxury vehicle.

"I do have concerns about that much of an increase in the wheel tax," Bowen said.

The two lawmakers made their comments at a panel discussion put on at the Potawatomi Hotel & Casino by the Public Policy Forum, a nonpartisan think tank that focuses on local government issues.

Kooyenga, a conservative whose district includes part of Wauwatosa in Milwaukee County, said he wasn't inclined to use state law to block an increase, saying local residents should weigh in on the issue with their voices and their votes. Bowen, a liberal who represents parts of both Milwaukee and Shorewood, said he was talking to county officials and looking at changing state law to allow for a local car registration fee that "might not be so regressive."

Currently, both state and local registration fees for cars must be uniform regardless of how much the vehicles are worth. The county vehicle fee is in addition to a $75 state registration fee and a $20 fee for City of Milwaukee residents.

Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele proposed a $60 wheel tax in September and last month the County Board approved the $30 increase on a 10-7 vote.

Abele spokeswoman Melissa Baldauff said the county executive would welcome any effort to make the wheel tax more dependent on the value of the car or the weight of the vehicle, which is tied to the toll it can take on roads.

"That's something (Abele) talked about months ago," she said.

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At the forum Thursday, Public Policy Forum President Rob Henken said Milwaukee is much more dependent on two revenue sources — state aid and property taxes — than other similar-size metro areas around the country. State aid to Milwaukee in 2015 was no higher than it was in 1995 despite the large increase in inflation over those 20 years, Henken told the audience.

Gov. Scott Walker's administration has proposed an increase in separate state aid for local government road and transportation budgets over the next two years. But funding challenges in the state transportation fund make long-term increases questionable.

Waukesha County Executive Paul Farrow and West Allis Mayor Dan Devine praised the increased aid from Walker but said more will need to be done long term to ensure good roads in the state.

"I don't think we have a sustainable model yet at this point," said Farrow, a former Republican state lawmaker.

The $30 Milwaukee County vehicle registration fee will generate nearly $13.5 million in 2017 to pay for bus service, bridge and road repairs, and development of a bus rapid transit service between downtown Milwaukee and the Milwaukee Regional Medical Center in Wauwatosa.

Baldauff said Abele didn't want a wheel tax but felt that deteriorating roads and public transit were even worse options.

"It's the only revenue stream available to us," she said.