New Taxes Aid In Road Upkeep

At the beginning of the year Rice County imposed a half cent sales tax increase and a ten dollar wheelage tax with proceeds to be used for the county's roads.  Rice County Highway Engineer Dennis Luebbe told KDHL AM Minnesota listeners Friday the county hasn't been able to keep up with the need and the revenues expected to be generated from the taxes will double his department's construction budget.  Luebbe explained the wheelage tax is actually a vehicle registration tax because it isn't being collected on all vehicles.  Rice County has 431 miles of roads and 350 of them are paved.  You can hear Luebbe talk about the costs to repair or redo a mile of road on KDHL 5:05 and 6:05pm newscasts Friday and Saturday morning during the 8:05 report. You can listen to AM Minnesota from this morning by clicking the links below:

Part One:

Part Two: