CLEVELAND, Tenn. -- Yet another attempt to fund a comprehensive makeover for Lake Forest Middle School -- this time by means of a $30 wheel tax -- has failed to get off the ground.
The Bradley County Commission voted 11-2 Monday against the proposal sponsored by Commissioner Robert Rominger and supported by Commissioner Johnny Mull.
Attempting to pass a wheel tax in Bradley County ultimately will be a "waste of time, effort and money," commission Vice Chairman Jeff Yarber said.
Not only does a wheel tax proposal require the commission to give it 10 votes on two consecutive occasions, but an expected petition of at least 2,200 registered voters likely would force the matter to be decided in a referendum, Yarber said.
According to Tennessee law, a petition of registered voters amounting to 10 percent of the votes cast in the county's last gubernatorial election is all that is required to put the wheel tax to a referendum.
In 2012, the County Commission attempted to fund the Lake Forest overhaul by voting to send a proposed $35 wheel tax directly to referendum, where it failed by a 3-to-1 margin.
In that referendum, the most votes against the wheel tax actually were cast by voters whose students are zoned for the middle school, which has had longstanding problems with drainage and leaking roofs, Yarber said.
Commissioner Dan Rawls voiced opposition to the amount of the wheel tax proposed Monday, citing concern that it would generate double what is needed to fund the Bradley County Commission's $12 million commitment to construction and infrastructural needs associated with the middle school's proposed makeover.
If implemented, the $30 wheel tax was projected to generate $2 million in annual revenue for capital debt service. Commissioners have estimated annual debt service for the Lake Forest project to fall between $1.1 million and $1.3 million.
The additional revenues generated by the wheel tax could be used to fund other needs, such as a technology refresh to support the growing digital demands in the county school system, Commissioner Bill Winters said.
Mull, who was quiet during the lengthy debate on the wheel tax, said he voted in favor of it in accordance with constituents who had told him that was the only kind of tax they would support.
In April, Commissioner Thomas Crye recommended a 7-cent property tax hike to support the Lake Forest overhaul, which calls for replacing nearly a dozen classroom pods spread across the 75-acre campus with a central academic building.
Crye's proposal failed to receive a second motion and never went to a vote.
Paul Leach is based in Cleveland. Email him at paul.leach.press@gmail.com.