Time for La Crosse County to consider wheel tax

Can we afford to wait any longer? Roads throughout the La Crosse area continue to deteriorate, and lawmakers in Madison continue to refuse to address the problem. A growing number of Wisconsin communities are taking matters into their own hands. Fifteen municipalities and counties have already approved some version of a wheel tax, tacking an extra $10 or $20 on to the cost of registering your car. Many others are considering similar action. La Crosse county briefly flirted with the idea of a wheel tax. It would raise desperately needed money to begin to fix our roads. Estimates suggest new annual revenue of $1.75 million, exclusively to be used for roadwork. That is still well short of the $83 million in identified road repair needs in La Crosse County. One year ago, when the idea of a La Crosse County wheel tax surfaced, we suggesting waiting for the state to finally approve more road money, but it is increasingly clear that isn’t going to happen anytime soon. The time to wait is over. La Crosse County needs to commit to improving our roads and do what our state lawmakers will not.