04292016 - News Article - Fight over wheel tax dividing Portage officials

Fight over wheel tax dividing Portage officials
Joyce Russell joyce.russell@nwi.com, (219) 762-1397, ext. 2222
Apr 29, 2016
NWI Times
http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/porter/fight-over-wheel-tax-dividing-portage-officials/article_64247f5b-396a-53ee-8b12-66bf2f21d88e.html

PORTAGE — The fight over whether or not the City Council should approve a wheel tax this coming week has divided officials.

Three members of the council, all Democrats, held a news conference Friday morning outside Portage City Hall. All three said they would not vote for the wheel tax at Wednesday night's City Council meeting.

Council members Sue Lynch, at-large; Scott Williams, 3rd District, and Collin Czilli, 5th District, said they wanted the city to step back before adding another tax onto residents. They said they believe the City Council and residents have been misled by Mayor James Snyder into believing the wheel tax is necessary.

They also denounced an email from Snyder alleging the three were "in lockstep" with the Koch brothers-backed group Americans for Prosperity to kill the wheel tax proposal.

The group allegedly sponsored a telephone survey of residents last week regarding the wheel tax and are planning on bringing protesters to Wednesday night's council meeting. Messages left with the group were not returned.

Introduced at the council's meeting earlier this month, the wheel tax would collect $25 per residential vehicle and $40 per commercial vehicle registered within the city. An amendment will be introduced at Wednesday's meeting to lower the tax to $12.50 for motorcycles, motor-driven vehicles, recreational vehicles and personal trailers.

Lynch, Czilli and Williams said they have been investigating the proposal, meeting with state officials and educating themselves on two legislative bills allowing municipalities to initiate a wheel tax to be used as a match for a state road funding grant.

The three said at the news conference they believe the wheel tax should be tabled right now. Instead, a $954,000 one-time distribution from the state of local option income tax should be used as the match.

Williams also suggested the city could use the $800,000 it is saving by recently raising the trash fee for road funding.

"We already have the match money rather than impose a wheel tax," said Lynch, adding she believes their plan can create thousands of jobs without imposing a new tax.

The three also said the city should wait on the wheel tax until the state Legislature meets next year to further hash out the road funding issue.

Snyder, contacted after the news conference, said the three never approached him or anyone else in his administration about their alternate plan.

Snyder, a Republican, said a bipartisan group of himself, Clerk-Treasurer Chris Stidham, a Democrat, and City Council President Mark Oprisko, a Democrat, proposed the wheel tax as a source of continuous revenue for road projects. He said their proposal already included using the $954,000 in 2016 as a grant match for road paving.

Snyder said the city must adopt the wheel tax by June 30 in order to have matching grant funds in 2017 and beyond. He said several municipalities, including Portage, pushed for the legislation to allow cities to adopt a wheel tax for additional revenue for infrastructure improvements.

He said, even without the state's grant program, he would have backed the wheel tax as a continuous source of revenue for the city.

"If I'm misleading my constituency, so is (Crown Point) Mayor Uran and every other municipality that is trying to pass a wheel tax," said Snyder, who confirmed he did send an email to the council saying Czilli, Lynch and Williams were "in lockstep" with Americans for Prosperity.

Czilli denied Snyder's accusation, saying he had attempted to contact the group after he heard they were behind the telephone poll, but had not spoken to anyone from the group.

"I appreciate the efforts of councilpersons Lynch, Czilli and Williams in trying to address Portage’s critical road needs. What today’s proposal makes clear is the city’s existing budget is not sufficient to care for Portage’s roads without unreliable one-time fixes. Without a permanent, long-term solution for our crumbling roads the situation will only get worse and more expensive," Stidham said in response to the news conference.

Jeff Valles, business agent for Operating Engineers Local 150, was present at the news conference. He said the union is supporting the wheel tax as a funding resource for road improvements.

In addition to Oprisko, council member Liz Modesto, D-1st, has said she is in favor of the wheel tax. Councilman John Cannon, R-4th, said this week he is undecided and likely won't have a decision until Wednesday night's meeting. Councilman Pat Clem, D-2nd, couldn't be reached for comment.