Vehicle owners could see an increase in the wheel tax and surtax paid when registering vehicles in 2024.
The Montgomery County Council gave attorney Dan Taylor permission to prepare an ordinance raising the two taxes with the purpose of raising more funds for road maintenance. The first reading of the proposed ordinance will be read at 9 a.m. Aug. 8. Public comments will be accepted.
Council members previously heard from Montgomery County Highway Director Jake Lough regarding the amount of money needed to maintain and improve the more than 800 miles of county roadways. Using today’s cost for materials, Lough projected the county needs nearly $2.3 million more than what the county can budget each year.
“No one wants to drive on bad roads that need repairs and paving,” council member Gary Booth said. “Everyone wants better roads in the county, but we have to realize we have to pay to have better roads.”
Currently, the county’s wheel tax ranges from $5 to $40 for trailers, heavy trucks and buses. All vehicles are assessed a $25 surtax.
The council unanimously agreed to have Taylor prepare an ordinance raising the wheel tax to $60 and the surtax to $38. It is estimated the increases will bring in an additional $1 million in revenue for the highway department.
Montgomery County Commissioner John Frey was in attendance at the council meeting and spoke about how the state legislature has been putting more of a burden on counties to increase wheel tax and surtax charges. He added that state legislators take a lot of heat because of how high property taxes are, so now they want counties to set high user fees.
The state set the maximum amount a county can charge at $80 for wheel tax and $50 for surtax.
Montgomery County has been at its present wheel tax and surtax levels for nearly 20 years, and could have increased these rates in small increments.
There was some discussion to raise the rates to the maximum limit, however, the council agreed to raise the tax to 75% of the maximum allowed by the state.
Montgomery County Councilman Brett Cating agreed it was time to raise the wheel tax and surtax. He also stated it is important to get the word out to the residents why the raise is needed.
“We need to let the people know why we want to raise these taxes,” Cating said. “We have been falling behind each year and this can stop the bleeding.”
Lough was happy to see the possibility of having more revenue to work with.
“This year we are going to be paving eight miles and it should be more like 20 miles,” Lough said. “I am happy for what you are proposing.”
In other business, the council:
• Appointed Owen Bennett to the Crawfordsville District Public Library Board.
• Tabled a request for a distribution from the dog tax fund from the Animal Welfare League.
• Gave permission to Montgomery County Sheriff Ryan Needham to purchase a dryer for the jail.
• Agreed to start the process of raising starting salaries for sheriff’s deputies.
