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Cheatham County adopts private act imposing a motor-vehicle privilege ("wheel") tax
Summary
The county legislative body approved a private act on Jan. 22 to levy a motor-vehicle privilege tax ("wheel tax") with set rates (e.g., $50 for passenger autos, $17 for motorcycles) and a formula that allocates proceeds to schools, education debt service and the highway fund; the roll-call vote was 10–0.
Cheatham County commissioners approved a private act on Jan. 22, 2024, to levy a motor-vehicle privilege (commonly known as a "wheel") tax for vehicles owned by county residents and operating on local (non-state) roads. County Attorney Michael Bligh presented the act and the commission adopted it on a recorded roll-call vote of 10 Yes, 0 No (two absent).
The adopted text specifies annual rates for categories of vehicles, including motorcycles ($17), passenger automobiles ($50), and graduated rates for truck classes. The act also lists statutory exemptions (for certain disabled veterans, vehicles owned by governmental entities and other categories) and creates a presumption that county residents who own licensed vehicles operate them on county roads.
The act prescribes how proceeds must be used: one-fifth of proceeds to the county's general purpose school fund, three-fifths to the county's education debt service fund, and one-fifth to the highway department fund. The minutes record the commission's approval; the text also requires validation and certification steps (including a two-thirds legislative-body approval requirement and filing with the Secretary of State) before it becomes fully operative under state law. The Jan. 22 vote met the two-thirds threshold in the recorded roll-call.
