No wheel tax reduction this year

There's been some talk from a few folks about whether to slim back or do away with the wheel tax.

Yeah, that's not happening. Makes for good headlines, though.

The $36 fee (technically, it's really not a tax) generates roughly $12.5 million in coin. Of that, $10.5 million goes toward operating the county's library system and $1.5 million goes toward the general purpose school fund (stuff that doesn't involve construction).

Then another $525K heads toward the county's general fund. Now, the actual focus would be on reducing the fee, so that it still helps out schools and libraries. Overall then, that would mean a $1.50 to $2 cut, and you'd do away with tucking money into the general fund.

However, the FY 2014 budget took effect Monday, so you can't count out this year. Obviously next year is an election year with county primaries set for May, so the issue might make for some good chatter then.