DAYTON, Tenn. - Rhea County commissioners Tuesday rejected a call to consider a wheel tax to balance their budget, leaving the matter on the procedural "table."
Commission Vice Chairman Emmaly Fisher proposed bringing the tax off the table, a move supported by Commissioner Bill Hollin.
The wheel tax proposal considered some three months ago and tabled since then would impose a $50 tax on automobiles and $25 on motorcycles, raising about $1.2 million.
"I think it's laid on the table long enough and we ought to vote on it," Hollin said.
Commissioner Tracy Taylor asked if the proposal would raise the funds the county needs.
"I asked Mr. Graham [finance director Bill Graham], 'Are you sure it's going to be enough?' and he said he felt it would be," Fisher responded.
But Commissioner Ron Masterson objected to the timing of the proposal.
"I understand the need for this," he said. "I had planned to have a town hall meeting in my area to discuss this. I was hoping to wait until after that to see if we should add to it."
The motion to consider the wheel tax failed on a 6-2 vote with one commissioner absent.
In other matters, commissioners appointed Perry Massengill to represent the third district on the Rhea County Board of Education. Massengill succeeds Patrick Fisher, who resigned the seat in January.
They also named County Clerk Linda Shaver, Commissioners Fisher, Hollin and Masterson and Road Supervisor Tommy Snyder to an ethics committee.