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.