Council Takes Major Step To Delay Mayor’s Wheel Tax Increase

Milwaukee City Hall. Photo by Urban Milwaukee staff.

The door isn’t completely closed, but there isn’t much light left sneaking through.

The Milwaukee Common Council is moving to delay implementation of Mayor Cavalier Johnson‘s proposed vehicle registration fee (wheel tax) increase by at least one month to line up with the adoption of the remainder of the 2026 city budget. The move would create a $250,000 gap in the proposed budget.

“We are not uncomfortable making hard decisions here,” said committee chair Ald. Marina Dimitrijevic. “But we need time to do that.”

The Finance & Personnel Committee held the proposal Wednesday, making it unlikely that the city would meet a Nov. 3 state deadline to put the increase into effect by February. State law requires a 90-day implementation period.

“This is a $250,000 decision that we’re making here today, that we shouldn’t have been put in a position of making,” said Ald. Scott Spiker. He laid blame with the mayor and said it wasn’t the council creating the budget gap.

Budget director Nik Kovac said city officials were unaware of the 90-day deadline when crafting the budget. Increasing the annual fee from $30 to $40 would net the city approximately $3 million in increased revenue, which Johnson is proposing to use to balance the budget.

“We communicated it as quickly as we knew,” said Kovac of the rush request to adopt the increase in advance of the budget itself. “As soon as we knew about it, we communicated it to the council.” He said the mayor didn’t want to lose a month of revenue. “It was not our intention to box you into a corner with timing.”

“This kind of presupposes that we won’t have amendments on this item,” said Dimitrijevic. She said council members could increase or decrease the size of the fee increase. “Quite frankly, I am undecided because I have a whole lot of people to talk to about all of those amounts.”

“If we want the money, we can vote on it; if not, we don’t have to,” said Kovac.

Spiker called the mayor’s request “crazy” and said the council was being asked to approve part of the budget in advance. He cited the fact that the last budget vote, overriding any mayoral vetoes, doesn’t occur until Nov. 25. “Until then we don’t have a budget, we don’t have a pope, there is no white smoke,” he said. “Doing things earlier just makes no sense.”

Ald. Peter Burgelis expressed frustration that state law prohibits levying the fee based on vehicle value. He also said it wasn’t appropriate to move forward without community feedback.

“We have to engage our residents. Not everyone has had an opportunity to do that,” said Burgelis.

Dimitrijevic said she has requested that the city’s Office of Equity and Inclusion provide an equity impact analysis of increasing the fee.

She’s also waiting for an Oct. 18 hearing at the Martin Luther King Library branch. The council scheduled that voluntary hearing in addition to the required public hearing held Monday.

The fee was created in 2008 and increased to $30 in 2021. Increasing it to $40 would put Milwaukee in line with six other cities, including Madison and Evansville. City residents must also pay the Milwaukee County fee, $30, and any state fees. The city share of the wheel tax currently brings in approximately $9 million annually.

“I would really like not to put another burden on the people in our city,” said Ald. Laressa Taylor. “There are other alternatives.” The alternative she offered was a fee in exchange for plowing alleys.

The committee unanimously held the increase. The full council meets on Oct. 14 and again on Nov. 4. Budget adoption day, where amendments are considered, is Nov. 7.

For more on the 2026 budget, including the $101 million structural deficit, see our prior budget coverage.

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