Commissioners vote to have wheel tax referendums appear on March 2020 ballot

October 17, 2019

At Monday night’s meeting of the Smith County Commission, commissioners voted to have two wheel tax referendums appear on the ballot in the March 2020 Presidential Primary Election.

Discussion of a wheel tax began alongside the Commission’s property tax discussions this summer.

Commissioners passed a resolution calling for these two wheel tax referendums on a first reading in September, and the resolution came before the Commission for a second and final time in the October meeting held on Monday night.

In the voting booth, Smith County’s voters will be able to vote for or against two different wheel taxes, both in the amount of $25.

If passed by voters, one wheel tax will be collected for the county’s general fund, and the other will go into a highway capital projects fund to benefit the roads.

The proposed wheel tax for the county’s general fund, in the amount of $25, will have a three-year cap, meaning that the wheel tax will be collected until 2023.

The proposed wheel tax for the highway capital projects fund, also in the amount of $25, will have a ten-year cap, meaning that the wheel tax will be collected until 2030.

After some discussion, the Commission decided that both proposed wheel taxes will apply to “any motor vehicle taxable by the state.”

Currently, a $15 wheel tax is collected in Smith County to pay off debt associated with the new Jail and Courts Facility. Depending on the will of the voters, the two proposed wheel taxes would be collected in addition to this amount.

Smith County Mayor Jeff Mason and many commissioners have expressed their hopes to lower the property tax rate if these wheel taxes are passed.

The Commission was advised by County Attorney Branden Bellar that language specifying the amount that the property tax could be lowered could not be included on the ballot.

You can watch the October 2019 meeting of the Smith County Commission below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XngG-CtVH_Y

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