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Wheelage Tax
- What is Wheelage Tax?
- How much is it?
- Why is it needed?
- How much will it generate?
- What will it be used for?
Minnesota law (Minnesota Statute 163.051) allows counties to levy a tax on vehicles that are primarily kept in the county. This tax is referred to as a wheelage tax. It is added to the vehicle registration fee (license plate tabs), and is paid directly to the county to provide funding for transportation needs. The Washington County Board of Commissioners approved the collection of the wheelage tax in Washington County, beginning in 2007.
Effective January 1, 2019, Washington County will charge $20 per registered vehicle. Trailers with permanent registration and motorcycles are exempt from this tax.
The cost of building and repairing roads, as well as the county population, continues to rise.
It is estimated that in 2019, the $20 wheelage tax will raise $4.4 million in revenue, and 100 percent of these funds will be used to maintain and improve Washington County highways. The wheelage tax is a user fee, and takes pressure off the county property tax, to pay for road improvements.
A $20 wheelage tax is estimated to generate $4.4 million a year to fund improvements to the transportation infrastructure in Washington County. The County Board has decided to implement the wheelage tax instead of raising additional property taxes to fund these important transportation projects.
The revenue raised will pay for transportation needs, including highway preservation projects, expansion projects, and transit improvements. For 2019, the wheelage tax revenue will be used to fund all or portions of the following road paving projects:
- County Highway 18 (Bailey Road) Access Management Project (Pioneer Drive to Woodbury Drive)
- County Highway 15 (Pavement Preservation)
- County Road 17B (Pavement Preservation)
- County Highway 25 (Pavement Preservation)