Sauk City debates passing wheel tax

The question of whether to institute a wheel tax dominated discussion at the Sauk City Village Board meeting on October 8. Village president Jim Anderson put the topic on the agenda and opened his remarks with the following: “Every year that we do the budget, we’re short on money.”

He continued, “Obviously we’re going to be short on revenue; we have two new [police] officers with the possibility of a third.” He also mentioned the possibility of Sauk Prairie School District’s $65 million referendum. Anderson said the village is short on employees, with utilities and the street department as primary needs.

A wheel tax is a flat fee charged per vehicle by a village. According to state statute, the money collected can only be used for transportation costs. Dane County just initiated a wheel tax, and Prairie du Sac and Lodi have one as well.

According to Anderson, the tax will generate “about an $80,000 increase in transportation aid.”

“The money generated from the wheel tax will go straight into transportation,” said Anderson. “We laid it out. And then you can take some of the money that we budget for transportation and use it for general budget items.”

Resident Tracy Haselwander asked, “Is there restrictions on usage for that fund [gathered from the wheel tax]?”

Village administrator Vicki Breunig said regulations restrict it to transportation items. “Maintenance of the streets, wages for [street department] employees, crack filling,” she explained.
“But then you [Anderson] just said you’d take money out of transportation and put it other places,” said Haselwander.

“Well, that’s because its budgeted money. There’s a difference between wheel tax money and budget money,” said Anderson.

“But the public is going to think this [wheel tax] money is going to go to streets,” said Haselwander. “They’re not going to hear that you’re going to be taking money out of transportation and putting it someplace else.”

“Well I’m not going to get into these type of discussions,” said Anderson. “I’ve talked with a lot of people and I’ve said ‘Do you want your services cut? or do you want to pay a $20 fee?’”
“The wheel tax is one of the last straws we can pull out, one of the last rabbits we can pull out of a hat to help us with getting enough revenue to make some of the budget rather than considering cutting some of the services we provide,” said Anderson.

Anderson said why he believes revenue is limited in Sauk City. He cited increasing insurance costs as the primary driver of village expenditures.

“Being a low growth and no growth community we don’t have the ability to raise our increments fast enough to help cover the costs of doing business,” said Anderson. He continued, “If I understood it correctly last year we could raise our budget by $19,000 and Prairie [du Sac] can do it by 20...”, he then corrected himself, “$100,000 because of growth.”

Reached after the meeting, Anderson explained both Prairie du Sac and the Village saw similar increases in net construction, and misspoke.

Sauk County saw a 1.37 percent increase in net new construction in 2018. Sauk City had a 1.55 percent increase. The village of Prairie du Sac had less, at 0.83 percent. The town of Prairie du Sac had a 0.20 percent increase.

Trustee Steve Haag is opposed to the wheel tax.

“I’m definitely not in favor of a wheel tax,” he said. “That’s just a way to take money away from people that can’t afford to be doing that. I think it’s wrong.”

He brought up taxing bicycles. “Put the fee on the bicycles as well and maybe we can talk about it, but this is not a thing to do. I think this is just a good way to show that maybe we should be tightening our belts and not spending the way we are.”

“We are not frivolously spending village money, it’s just that we have a formula that 60 percent of our new growth allows us to increase our budget and when that 60 percent of new growth is almost nothing in this community, it makes it difficult,” said Anderson. “We are getting to the point now where we definitely need another employee,” he added. “The village continues to grow and we keep asking more of our employees and it’s to the point where some employees hate taking a day off because they are already behind and trying to keep up.”

Haag disagreed with this saying, “I think that’s something we can get along without. There are some things that could change in operations that could cover that kind of stuff.”

“It comes to a point where we have to do something,” continued Anderson.

When Anderson reiterated, “We’ve been behind with an employee for a long time,” Haselwander spoke up.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” she said. “Go down to the village hall some morning, or go down to the...”

Anderson interrupted her: “I’m not gonna get into it, if you guys want to make some legitimate complaint that’s fine and dandy.” He continued, “But I’m not going to sit here and listen to that stuff. That’s not what the village board is about.”

“If you’ve got something you’d like to put in for that has some merit then go ahead,” he finished.

“I think my comment has merit; I think others do as well,” said Haselwander.

Haselwander also asked if the decision to have a wheel tax could be put before residents in a referendum.

“Let’s put it before the village people,” she said.

“I think the Village People broke up now,” joked Anderson.

“I don’t think so; I think they’re strong and loud and they understand the issues,” she replied.

“Everybody wants to do referendum anytime there’s something controversial before the board,” said Anderson. “But the referendum is April,” said Anderson, referring to local elections. “It’s a perfect opportunity for everyone to step forward and do a referendum.”

Haselwander said, “That one issue wouldn’t change my mind on who to vote for.”

Village trustee Robert Dederich said, “I didn’t want to say this, in most of the communities [that] are doing this...I don’t want to...just go along with it.”

Haselwander’s request for a referendum is something state legislators have taken action on. Assembly Bill 283 would require municipalities to successfully pass a referendum during a regularly scheduled election in order to impose a wheel tax. Any municipality with an existing wheel tax would have to successful pass a referendum in order to keep it. This means if Sauk City imposes a wheel tax and the bill becomes law, the village would have to hold a referendum.

Haselwander asked why the village doesn’t do a referendum first.

Trustee Richard Marks is in support of the wheel tax.

“To me $20 a vehicle doesn’t sound like very much for taking care of your roads, I believe that people that use the roads should be paying for them and if you have them in your town then you should be paying for them,” he said.

Marks then went on to discuss taxes and said, “The property taxes on my house are $3,800 and a house comparable to my home in some other community like Prairie du Sac or Madison would probably be $7,000-$8,000 a year so I feel I’m paying really low taxes per year so a $20 a year fee on a vehicle doesn’t seem that much to me.”

A house valued at $200,000 in Sauk City pays $3,896 in property taxes. The same house in Prairie du Sac pays $4,012. In Madison, property taxes for a $200,000 house are $1,862.
Marks continued, “I understand that $20 a month,” he corrected himself, “or $20 a year is probably going to kill someone in town.”

“I do think we need to discuss this because if we are going to be short revenue this year, then I know we need to find a way get it up somewhere or lose services and if you want to lose services instead of paying a $20 wheel tax then that’s fine,” continued Marks.

Anderson said the first thing they would cut would be street repairs to which Haag said, “You can’t do that because you’re bound by law to repair the roads or you make yourself responsible for what happens on the streets.”

Haselwander asked what will happen in the future if the village faces increased expenditures.

“This is not the answer for everything in the future,” said Breunig.

No further action was taken on the wheel tax during the meeting and it was suggested by Marks that during the upcoming budget meetings, the village looks at where it will be coming up short and see what would need to be cut.