February 25, 2005

Wheel Tax Legislation Gets a Flat

Ben Cunningham of Tennessee Tax Revolt, who alerted me yesterday to legislation pending in the state Senate that would have made it easier for county commissions to raise wheel taxes - and harder for citizens to stop them - emailed this morning to report that Sens. Bill Ketron and Ron Ramsey have withdrawn their support from that legislation.

Good golly miss molly!! We did it!!!! Thank YOU!! Thank YOU!! Thank YOU!!!

>>>>>Thanks to everyone<<<<<<<< for such quick action on the wheel tax bill. All the talk radio, emails and calls and blog postings had an immediate effect. The new media is becoming the new force!!

Several bloggers - not just this one - posted articles about the legislation, including Blake Wylie's NashvilleFiles, Mark Rose, and Michael Silence, who blogs for the Knoxville News-Sentinel. Except for Silence's posting, the Tennessee news media either missed or ignored the story.

Blogs first reported the story and blogs and talk radio pushed the story to a swift conclusion, all before Tennessee's slumbering capital hill press corp bothered to wake up and cover it.

Adam Groves is right:

Politicans take note, the blog is here to affect Tennessee politics- today State Senators Ramsey and Kentron removed their support of a wheel tax bill that Bill Hobbs ripped to shreads.

UPDATE: Ketron emailed that he indeed has withdrawn his support, stating, "When the lobbyist asked Senator Ramsey and I to introduce the bill it was presented differently than the bill that was drafted by Legal Services."

I have emailed Sen. Ketron asking him which lobbyist for what organization asked him to sponsor the legislation.

UPDATE: Sen. Steve Cohen, the Democratic chairman of the state Senate's State & Local Government Committee, which is still scheduled to consider the legislation on March 1, emailed a response to my question of whether or not he would support the bill. Cohen wrote: "I have not decided. I will probably oppose it."

On the flip side, state Rep. Jerome Cochran, a Republican from Elizabethton who a co-sponsor of the legislation in the house, showed his ignorance in an email to me by asserting that the legislation "does not make it easier to raise wheel taxes."

The legislation would make it possible for county commissions to pass wheel tax increases by a simple majority; current law requires a two-thirds majority. I'l leave it to you to decide if that makes it easier for county commissions to pass wheel tax increases.

Cochran:

This bill does not make it easier to raise wheel taxes, it simply removes the provision that the General Assembly must approve a wheel tax for a particular county. County Commissions must still approve the wheel tax at 2 regular meetings or put it on the ballot for a vote by referendum. Either way the process stays close to the people and not have local matters decided by legislators in Knoxville or Memphis. The process should be determined by local county officials who are directly responsible to the effected people. I do not believe it appropriate for me to be voting on a wheel tax for Shelby County. I believe that this will make it more difficult to raise taxes because county commissioners will not be able to blame Nashville for tax increases and must take responsibility for their own actions. The referendum option is also still in place so the citizen's rights are not being taken away.

Rep. Cochran, with all due apologies, you are either ignorant of the legislation you signed on to co-sponsor or you are being willfully deceptive about its contents.

UPDATE: Well, Rep. Cochran emailed again, with a rather damning admission: He not only knows what is in the legislation - he knows because he caused the legislation to be drafted:

Do you understand the current process for passing a wheel tax? County Commissions for years would pass a wheel tax and then blame the legislature for passing the private act implementing it. Under this act, they are directly accountable to the people of the county that is effected (sic). If they go against the wishes of the citizens they will be voted out. Most commissions will most likely go with a referendum for political cover. For the record, I not only read the legislation, I asked for it to be drafted last year.

True. But the tax increase would still be in place.

Cochran also maintains that "Most commissions will most likely go with a referendum for political cover." Perhaps. But by making it possible to pass a wheel tax increase by simple majority instead of a two-thirds majority, Cochran's legislation would undermine that impact - and make it easier for county commissions to increase wheel taxes. Simultaneously, by ending the right of citizens to stop a wheel tax increase via a petition drive and referendum, Cochran would make it all the more tempting for county commissions to try to pass a wheel tax without a referendum.

My reply to Cochran:

You actually asked for legislation to be drafted that would end the right of citizens to stop a wheel tax increase via a petition drive and referendum, and make it easier for county commissions to increase wheel taxes? And you call yourself a Republican?

I'm sure my readers - Republicans who oppose higher taxes - will be interested to know you asked for the legislation to be drafted. I'm sure the people who follow TNTaxRevolt.org religiously will be glad to know, too. They like to target pro-tax increase legislators for defeat.

UPDATE: Another email from Rep. Cochran, in its entirety:

The intent of my legislation was too prevent the legislature from circumventing the will of the people and passing wheel taxes through private acts. It was my intent for the bill to amend only TCA Sec. 5-8-102 (c)(1), but it was drafted and inadvertenly deleted the entire (c) section. That was an mistake that I just noticed in the bill's enacting language and take responsibility for. I am not opposed to amending the bill to change the 1/2 back to 2/3 and restoring the ability of voters to petition for a referendum. If you have time sometime, please call me 423-xxx-xxxx, so we can discuss this bill and make changes to address your concerns. I enjoy your website and I believe on most issues we are in agreement.