Sheriff Mike Neal stands in front of the Rhea County Sheriff’s Department in this file photo.DAYTON, Tenn. — Rhea County commissioners will consider imposing a $50 wheel tax to balance the county’s budget, and they will discuss options for relieving jail overcrowding and courthouse security problems.
Meeting in workshop session Tuesday, commissioners said a wheel tax could be imposed by their January meeting, take effect soon after and ease the budget shortfall expected for the coming year.
Finance Director Bill Graham said a $50 wheel tax would raise about $1.2 million per year and “cover what the deficit was last year. But going forward, I don’t see anything getting cheaper.”
“We’ve got to do something,” Commissioner Emmaly Fisher said. “As I’ve said probably every meeting, that [a wheel tax] is what my constituents tell me they prefer.”
On the proposed jail or justice center, Commissioner Ron Masterson reported the county has been notified by officials in the state comptroller’s office that that office would not approve financing plans based on litigation taxes or state prisoner boarding fees.