At the City Council meeting on October 19, 2015, in accordance with Section 341.35 of Wisconsin Statutes, an ordinance was passed calling for an annual flat city registration fee of $20 to be imposed on all motor vehicles customarily kept in the city. The city registration fee is in addition to the state Registration fees. According to the state statute, the term motor vehicle means an auto or truck of a gross weight less than 8,000 pounds.
Current registration for vehicles subject to the wheel fee that expire on February 1, 2016 or later will be charged the fee; new registrations for vehicles subject to the wheel fee will be charged the fee if the first date of operation is February 2, 2016 or later. The wheel fee will come due at the same time as the annual license renewal for each vehicle.
For autos and light trucks, the Wisconsin Department of Transportation registration fee will include a $20 fee collected on behalf the City of Sheboygan. Any person who gives a false or fictitious location where a vehicle is customarily kept may be fined not more $200 or imprisoned not more than six months or both (Section 341.60, WI Stats.)
Some residents who live in a town near the City of Sheboygan borders may find that they have been sent a renewal notice by the Wisconsin DOT that incorrectly includes the City of Sheboygan Wheel Fee. If the vehicle location information on the renewal notice incorrectly shows Sheboygan, and the wheel fee is not due, please visit wisconsindot.gov or send an email to vehiclequestions@dot.wi.gov with your license plate number to request a correction. Questions can also be answered by calling 608-264-7447. The same contact information above applies for anyone who has paid the wheel fee in error.
The wheel fee is one part of a long range plan to repair and maintain our city streets. The Sheboygan Department of Public works calculated the cost to repair or replace the current streets that are substandard and the streets with pavement ratings that will need attention in the next decade. The total came to $47.2M. An average $5.2M will need to be budgeted each year to pay for the road construction costs.
Currently the City budgets approximately $1M-$1.5M for road projects, this amount will need to continue to be budgeted at $1.5M. The wheel fee will bring in an estimated $750,000. The garbage fee that currently raises $1.2M and is set to sunset in 2016 will need to be extended and redirected to road repair projects. The plan then calls for the City to borrow $2M per year for new road construction and increase spending in the the city budget for road projects by $1M over and above the current spending.
There are many types of repairs that will be funded in this program, they include milling off asphalt over concrete and recovering with new asphalt, hot in place asphalt recycling, concrete reconstruction, new asphalt over concrete resurfacing, asphalt road seal, crack filling and curb and gutter replacement.
At this time the road projects that are scheduled for 2016 will include the following projects: hot-in-place asphalt recycling projects on Saemann Avenue from 15th to 21st Streets, N. 6th Street from Wisconsin to Superior Avenue and S 17th Street from Illinois to Union Avenue. The Washington Avenue intersection from Taylor Dr. to the I-43 ramps will be rebuilt with new concrete construction. The Pennsylvania Avenue bridge will receive deck repairs. Michigan Avenue will be rebuilt from 4th Street to Broughton Drive.