DeKalb County holds public hearing on wheel and excise tax as officials outline funding shortfall for road maintenance

DeKalb County Council held a public information session July 31 to explain proposed local-option wheel and excise taxes and to gather public comment; council members did not take a vote. Councilman Bill Van Wye said the county is considering the taxes after reductions in state funding and said the levies are intended to help pay a maintenance backlog on county roads.

The session matters because the taxes are tied to eligibility for additional community-crossings formula funds administered by the state. County staff and council members said the county must adopt both the excise tax (for passenger vehicles) and the wheel tax (for heavier vehicles) together to qualify for the higher tier of formula funding. County staff presented condition and cost estimates for paved roads and bridges and urged the public to review a slide packet posted on the county website.

County officials described the scale of need. Councilman Bill Van Wye said the county has 704 miles of paved roads and identified 123.14 miles rated 2–5 on the PACER (0–10) pavement-rating scale; county staff estimated about $10,247,768 in maintenance work on that 123.14 miles. Presenters outlined annual…