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The Hamblen County Commission approved the first vote for a $23 Wheel Tax increase at its Thursday meeting.

The current wheel tax is $27 and with the increase, it brings the total to $50. The funding from the increase will be placed in the county’s Highway Capital Projects fund and will be used for road improvements

Many gathered in the Hamblen County Courthouse’s large courtroom, anticipating the commission’s decision.

One by one supporters and opponents of the tax increase took to the podium to share information and stories on how the increase would affect them.

After the final person finished their comments, Hamblen County Trustee Scotty Long went to the podium, sharing information that was shocking, even to himself.

“I attended the East Tennessee Trustee meeting and they asked if we have raised property taxes this year and I told them we haven’t and they kept telling me that we were lucky,” Long said. “So I (in anticipation of this vote) called up those 14 counties who attended the meeting and got some information from them.”

What Long gathered was information on whether or not those counties had to raise taxes in their county.

“Greene County had to raise their taxes by 38 cents and that is even applying to a reappraisal year. With the reappraisal the property values in Greene County went up an average of 63%,” he said. “Union is having to build some schools so their property tax went up 30 cents and they increased their wheel tax by $30, making it a total of $50.”

“Jefferson County ,30 cents increase; Grainger County, 5 cents; Hancock County, 49 cents and that is also during a reappraisal year; Claiborne County, 30 cents; Carter County, 15 cents and Johnson County, 40 cents.”

He explained that if it wasn’t for the commission’s decision to shift money around to pay for the county’s maintenance of effort to the schools, the commission would have had to raise property taxes as well.

“This year we would have had to raise our property tax by 12 cents versus us actually shifting money around,” Long said.

Long also said that the commission has only raised the property tax twice in 17 years.

“I was totally astonished that the county commission has only raised property taxes 2 times in the past 17 years,” Long said. “What happens is and what people don’t understand is that reappraisal causes appreciation of a home to increase, property goes up and doesn’t depreciate, that’s the general rule. So therefore, as the value of your property goes up the portion you have to pay increases.”

He then explained every five years there is a reappraisal year that is mandated by the state.

Long discussed the county’s history with reappraisal year and property tax increase.

“In 2015, it was a reappraisal year and property tax value dropped and that historically never happens,” he said. “So what happened is the state certifies it for the county to maintain the same amount of money. The state, in a reappraisal year, raised our taxes by 14 cents. So that was a reappraisal year that raised it by 14 cents, not the county commission.”

“There have been a total of three tax increases in the county in the past 17 years. One from the state during reappraisal because something happened that usually doesn’t happen. Usually the property value goes up and the certified rate goes down.”

During a brief discussion with Long, Commission Chairman Chris Cutshaw told the commission when the wheel tax was first voted on.

“In 1999 the Wheel Tax was passed and it was voted in referendum on May 7, 2002,” he said.

After Long’s comments the commission went down its scheduled agenda until the moment most attendees were waiting for, the vote on the tax increase.

Commissioner Bobby Haun made the motion to accept the resolution to increase the wheel tax with Commissioner Debbie A’Hearn seconding the motion. Haun then welcomed the commission to discuss the resolution.

Commissioner Thomas Doty started the discussion by remembering when his father, on a previous commission, had to raise taxes in the county.

“There is a lot of good ideas on the wheel tax whether to do it or not do it,” he said. “As we talk about the wheel tax and the tax increase, that commission, and I speak first hand because my father was on that commission and it hurt him badly to turn around to raise taxes, but it’s because they did the bare minimum that they had to do to make ends meet.”

Doty explained that he doesn’t want to see the county be backed into a corner by utilizing Commissioner Peggy Howell’s plan to use extra funding from sales tax that would go to schools to use for paving.

“I don’t want to see us have to take everything that is extra and put it in one pot so we have no cushion, and don’t want to be put in a corner like we have been in the past,” Doty said.

“The wheel tax increase will be a minimum amount going into paving roads. I talked with Barry Poole, county road superintendent, it will take $120 million to complete everything. This is just a start and if we take the $3 million they’re talking about from the schools that is extra, it won’t pave enough that you’ll notice a difference. We need money that is dependable and something that the road department can plan to expect for the coming years”

Commissioner Kyle Walker said that this is a tough decision, but necessary if the community wants better roads.

“This is one of the hardest decisions that I’ve had to make as a first year commissioner,” Walker said. “Everyone has complained to this commission and when we were running that the problem is the roads. Where does that money come from?

“No one wants to pay for taxes, I understand. We talk about things going up. Some suggest to use sales tax instead, but it’s hard times so we can’t say that the sales tax will always be great.”

Walker reassured the community that if the tax increase doesn’t work the commission can vote to remove it and that he is dedicated to ensuring that the profits from the increase will go to paving.

“Just like we voted this in, we can vote it out. If we see this isn’t the answer then we can vote it out,” Walker said. “The only thing I can tell you is that if I vote for this I will never agree to move this money out of paving and us as a commission have to stay strong and say this money can’t go to buy a new garbage truck it has to go to paving. When we do that then we can get something done with this money.”

After the commission finished its discussion, the vote was held, 11 commissioners voted in favor of the wheel tax, with commissioners Wayne NeSmith, Edna Greene and Howell voting against it.

This is the first reading of the resolution and the commission will vote on it again at its next month’s meeting for the final reading, that vote will finalize the tax increase if it passes.