(A) Beginning January 1, 2015 and until further amended by ordinance, all passenger vehicles, trucks of less than 11,000 pounds declared gross vehicle weight, motorcycles and motor driven cycles, registered in the county, that are subject to an excise tax (in lieu of property tax) shall also be subject to an annual excise surtax of 10% to be paid with the registration of any of the above vehicles.
(B) Beginning January 1, 1982, and until further amended by ordinance, all of the following six classes of motor vehicles registered in the county, shall be subject to an annual wheel tax as set out in the following schedule, to be paid with the registration of the motor vehicles.
Motor Vehicle Classification | Annual Wheel Tax |
Motor Vehicle Classification | Annual Wheel Tax |
Buses | $30 |
Recreation vehicles | $15 |
Semi-trailers | $20 |
Motor Vehicle Classification | Annual Wheel Tax |
Tractors | $30 |
Trailers | $5 |
Trucks | $30 |
(C) The following motor vehicles are exempt from the local option annual wheel tax:
(1) Vehicles owned by the state;
(2) A state agency or a political subdivision;
(3) Church buses; and
(4) Vehicles subject to the annual excise surtax.
(D) Beginning January 1, 1982, all of the excise surtax and wheel tax collected on motor vehicles registered in the county shall be distributed, as provided in I.C. 6-3.5-5.
(E) Divisions (A) and (B) above, which impose the local option annual excise surtax at the maximum allowable rate and the local option annual wheel tax, shall not be decreased or rescinded, at any time, during which any portion of a loan obtained by the county under I.C. 8-14-8 is unpaid, or if any bonds issued by the county under I.C. 8-14-9 are outstanding.
(F) The County Council shall not approve any resolution submitted to it under I.C. 8-14-9-7(b), as recommended to it by the Local County Road and Bridge Board of the county, as that term is defined in I.C. 8-14-9-3, during any time period where any portion of a loan obtained by the county under I.C. 8-14-8 is unpaid.
(G) The County Council shall apply to the State Department of Highways for a loan from the Distressed Road Fund created by I.C. 8-14-8, and at the time of the submission of the application shall notify the State Board of Tax Commissioners that it has made the application. The application shall include, at a minimum, the following:
(1) A map depicting all roads and streets in the system of the county; and
(2) A copy of the county’s proposed program of work covering the current and immediately following calendar year.
(H) In submitting the application for a loan to the State Department of Highways from the Distressed Road Fund, the County Council shall be guided by and use the following minimum criteria in developing its application for the loan:
(1) Traffic counts and projected traffic;
(2) Areas served;
(3) Surface material and conditions;
(4) Base material and depth;
(5) Drainage, including culverts;
(6) Width of roadway and right-of-way;
(7) Soils upon which the road is placed;
(8) Topography;
(9) Seasonal weather conditions and the effect on road repairs and maintenance; and
(10) The minimum transportation needs of all areas of the county regardless of population or vehicle registration.
(I) (1) Upon approval of the application for a loan from the Distressed Road Fund by the State Department of Highways, the county shall enter into a loan agreement with the State Department of Highways which shall specify, as a minimum, the purposes for which the loan is to be used and the terms of repayment of the loan. The maximum term of repayment of the loan shall not exceed ten years. If the loan is repaid within the term of repayment specified in the loan agreement it shall not be subject to interest.
(2) If the loan is not fully repaid within the term of the repayment, the balance that remains unpaid at the end term of repayment shall be subject to interest at the rate of 12% per year.
(J) The County Council President and a committee of members to be appointed by the County Council President are hereby authorized to negotiate any and all other terms and conditions of the loan agreement, as in their sole discretion, they deem necessary or advantageous to the county and its citizens in consummating the loan agreement. The loan agreement shall be signed by the President of the County Council, the appointed committee members and attested to by the Auditor of the county.
(K) The County Council may hereafter, at any time, by written resolution establish a local county road and bridge board to be known as the Local County Road and Bridge Board of the county and a special taxing district to be known as the Local County Road and Bridge District of the county. The written resolution authorizing the creation of a local county road and bridge board and special taxing district shall, at a minimum, incorporate all of the then existing provisions of I.C. 18-14-9, to which may be added any and all other terms, conditions or provisions, which the County Council deems necessary to carry out the intent of I.C. 8-14-9.
(1984 Code, § 16-1) (Ord. CC-81-11, passed 6-22-1981; Ord. 1983-CC-13, passed 7-28-1983; Ord. O-CC-14-2, passed 11-20-2014)
Cross-reference:
County Highway Excise Surtax and Wheel Tax Fund, see § 36.07