ࡱ> .0-7 -bjbjUU )(7|7| lrrrrrrr84 @ l h h h h h C C C  $" Bd rC C C C C  rrh h &  C rh rh C T rr h \ ֯,&S  < 0l c 4 ."rrrrFulton County Council/Commissioners Joint Meeting July 19, 2005 The Fulton County Board of Commissioners and Council met in Joint Session on July 19, 2005, at 4:00 p.m. E.S.T. The follow members were present: Richard A. Powell, Commissioner President, Roger D. Rose, Leslie R. Walters, Christopher D. Sailors, Council President, David Helt, Judy DeVries, Earl Gaerte, Gary Sriver, Mike Gearhart, James Widman, and County First Deputy Auditor, Penny Bramble. Wheel Tax Information: The Fulton County Board of Commissioners and the Fulton County Council met with Jerry Larcen, from Indiana LTAP, who presented wheel tax information. He reported that the road funding for the last six months of 2005 will be 97% of what was received the last half of 2004. Local Option Highway User Tax (LOHUT ), the wheel tax, is the only option to raise dedicated road funding at the local level. This consists of two parts: 2% to 10% of what the state collects on the excise tax on vehicles (a tax on a tax) and the county wheel tax. The motor vehicle surtax applies to cars, trucks and motorcycles only. Everything else is in the wheel tax category. There are two different procedures for adopting the two different classifications, but they must be adopted concurrently. The excise surtax applies to cars, motorcycles and pickups plated with a plate of 11,000 pounds or less. Vehicles over that weight go to the wheel tax side. The excise surtax can be anywhere from 2% to 10% of what the BMV currently charges for a vehicle. Current BMV charges are $12 to $1,063 per vehicle equaling (10% would be $1.20 to $106). The other option is a flat amount ranging from $7.50 to $25.00. All cars, pickups and motorcycles would pay the same amount. The county wheel tax applies to those vehicles not subject to the surtax: buses, RV, semi tractors, semi trailers, other trailers, trucks. This is a flat rate of $5 to $40. The flat rate can be based upon the weight of the vehicle. Wheel tax exceptions: owned by the State, owned by any political subdivision (schools, county highway department, city street department, utility department), and buses owned by religious or non-profit youth organizations. In order to have started collecting money in February of 2006, it had to be passed by June 30, 2005. This gives the BMV six months to prepare. Checks are distributed by the 15th of the month following the month of collections (i.e., Januarys collections would be distributed by the 15th of February). If passed in Fulton County before June 30, 2006, Fulton County would receive revenues in February, 2007. Larcen described the loss of funding to the local entities due to State legislative decisions. In 2003 26 counties passed the tax. Also, in 2003 LTAP began working with 44 counties who were considering adopting the tax. Of those nine did adopt the tax in 2003 for pay in 2004. In 2004 two counties (Morgan and Tippecanoe) passed the tax during election year for pay this year. So far this year four counties passed the tax, and two counties increased their tax to the maximum amount. In Fulton County there are 793 miles of road, of which about 700 miles are paved (approx. 88%). Highway Superintendent Scott Tilden likes to seal every five years and resurface every 15 years, which is an average program. Reseal costs average about $4000 per mile and resurfacing about $40,000. This would be 93 miles of resealing per year and 47 miles of resurfacing per year on that program. Cost would be approximately $2,240,000.00. Total maintenance would add another $50,000 for a total of $2,290,000, leaving a budget shortfall of $1,440,000. If we took the money available, the reseal would go from every five years to every 14 years and resurfacing from every 15 years to every 42 years. The tax would be shared with the cities and towns in the county according to the state formula by which the local road and street money is distributed, which is about 80% based on mileage and 20% based on population. The potential surtax income range could be $370,520 to $463,850 based on chosen rates. The potential wheel tax (large vehicles) income range could be $38,247.55 to $150,752 based upon chosen rates. Other options for funding: The County could pay for road improvements out of the county general fund, the CEDIT fund, the CAGIT fund, and the COIT fund. The BMV gets 15 cents per transaction in service fees. The rest stays in the County. Recess: 5:03 p.m. Reconvene: 5:10 p.m. EMS Contract Information: Council president Chris Sailors presented the report of the independent review of the EMS information. Hospital CEO Jim OKeefe asked what was the objective and what was determined. After much discussion regarding cost, staffing, equipment, etc., the Council and Commissioners decided to extend the contract for 18 months to the end of 2006. During that time they would like to discuss the issue with Township Trustees regarding the possibility of taxing the townships for the type of service they desire, as well as exploring other possible funding sources. There was consensus to form a subcommittee involving the Council, Commissioners, EMS Board and township trustees. The subcommittee would look at other issues, funding sources, tax issues, etc. Judy DeVries moved to adjourn the meeting at 6:50 p.m. E.S.T. Jim Widman seconded the motion. Motion passed 10-0. FULTON COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS _____________________________ _____________________________ Richard A. Powell, President Leslie R. Walters, Member _____________________________ Roger D. Rose, Vice President FULTON COUNTY COUNCIL _____________________________ ______________________________ Christopher D Sailors, President Earl Gaerte, Member _____________________________ ______________________________ David J. Helt, Vice President James Widman, Member _____________________________ ______________________________ Judy DeVries, Member Gary Sriver, Member _____________________________ ______________________________ James Widman, Member ATTEST: __________________________ Denise J. Bonnell, Auditor     O Q  "#%&()- jUH*52@A}~ 89!"OP``$`a$,"#yz%&*+PQ %&eR~!"$%'(*+,-$ !' 01h/R / =!"#$% i8@8 NormalCJ_HaJmH sH tH <A@< Default Paragraph Font.U@. Hyperlink >*B*ph<C@< Body Text Indent `,@, Header  !, ", Footer  !-(zzzH -2@A}~8 9 ! "   OP"#yz%&*+PQ %&eR~!"$%'(*+.00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 --,8@0(  B S  ?..$.Fulton Co. 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