Rep. Elijah Behnke is supporting those who are not happy with wheel taxes with legislation that will add some hoops for municipalities to approve them in the future.
However, he’s not optimistic that the Wisconsin Legislature will pass his bill by the time the current legislative session ends next year.
Currently, counties and municipalities can pass a wheel tax through an ordinance. The city of Shawano passed one in 2024, while Shawano County rejected plans to implement its own in March. The money collected through the wheel tax can only be used for street-related measures, which frees up general fund money for other needs in the government, officials have argued.
That has not set well with some, including one of Behnke’s election rivals last year. Shawano resident Shirley Hinze, who was the Democratic candidate, took the Shawano Common Council to task last October after the council approved a $40 wheel tax one month earlier.
“As long as you’re going to assess this on people that live in the community and not address the tourism that comes into the community with the other private ownership, I don’t think you have really a good base for putting a $40 fee on this residents of this community until you present some very good specifics as to why,” Hinze said. “These fees will bury you until something is changed in Madison. This is a stop-gap measure.”
Behnke’s legislation would require a referendum take place during a regularly scheduled election to get voters approval for any future wheel tax plans. However, current wheel taxes in place are not immune, as the bill requires counties and municipalities to call for a referendum within 18 months or be forced to repeal the taxes.
Behnke noted that the bill originally was written by Rep. Dave Maxey from Waukesha County, but he wanted to be part of the effort to implement it based on what he’d heard earlier this year while doing listening sessions around the 6th Assembly District.
“My community feels like they don’t have a say,” Behnke said. “You could be going in April to vote for a judge, and then you can vote on a wheel tax. It’s just moving it from a local ordinance to the actual taxpayers that have to pay the wheel tax. I see this as a basic taxation with representation. Taxation without representation is not OK.”
While Behnke wants to see it passed, he’s not convinced it will happen due to the Wisconsin Senate. Currently, the Senate is planning to only meet three more times between now and February, and then the new election season gets underway.
“They didn’t meet at all in September, whereas we met several times and passed some bills,” Behnke said. “It’s rumored that the Senate’s only going to meet once in October, once in November and once in February. They are just so spineless to help the state move forward, because they’re afraid of losing the majority.”
Behnke has another bill that’s expected to be voted on in the Assembly next month that would provide fleet plates for truck companies, similar to one already passed for cars, but he expects that to go nowhere with the Senate, as well.
“I’m doing my job on my side, but I don’t think leadership in the Senate side is moving much along,” Behnke said.
Behnke attended the February meeting of the county board at the suggestion of former Rep. Peter Schmidt, and he noted “the mood of the room” indicated folks didn’t want to pay more for their vehicle registration.
“I feel like I’m overtaxed,” Behnke said. “We’re not just living this gravy life. Gas is still reasonable, but groceries are super high, and property taxes are getting out of control.”
lpulaski@newmedia-wi.com