The Town of Culver is following suit to support a wheel tax being considered at the county level.
During Tuesday night’s Culver Town Council meeting, members considered writing a letter to the Marshall County Council – who is in the process of considering the tax due to lacking state support for road maintenance and repairs.
Culver Town Manager Jonathan Leist says the tax may demonstrate to the state exactly where additional revenue is needed.
“The state does not want to increase any funding for roads as long as cities and towns are not using this option that they already have,” says Leist.
The wheel tax would be paid yearly when motorists renew their license plate.
The City of Plymouth on Monday night agreed to issue a similar letter of support. As things stand now, revenue generated through a wheel tax would be split between Marshall County and the county’s various municipalities.
For Culver, the tax would generate an estimated $50-thousand per year. Estimates put the wheel tax somewhere in the range of $50 per vehicle.
Council member Sally Ricciardi attended the Marshall County meeting where the wheel tax was being considered. She says there is a way to calculate the benefit to the towns.
“It’s based on the number of miles that you have in your incorporated town and your population at the last census,” says Ricciardi. “They have a different figure, Argos has a different figure from Culver.”
The Culver Town Council approved the measure unanimously.
Marshall County will consider the matter in the future.
