Mayor Tom Barrett likely will get overridden on his veto of the $20 wheel tax, but it was the right thing to do.

On the other hand, kudos to Ald. Robert Bauman and his allies for pushing this issue, which so badly  needed to be addressed for so long. which the mayor declined to do for too long.

A wheel tax isn’t a bad solution — it just should not be the only solution. Ald. Michael Murphy had a better idea when he proposed the combination of a $10 wheel tax and significantly reduced special assessments for street repairs. That would ensure that non-profits and land-heavy businesses and absentee landlords share in the cost of street repairs. As it stands now, those entities may well escape paying their fair share.

The council also should have done more to protect itself from pent-up demand. The wheel tax-only funding source for street repairs removes any incentive for homeowners not to insist that their wrecked — or even mildly imperfect — streets be repaired immediately. People who pay the $20 and don’t get the repairs they feel they deserve will be angry; people who rejected repairs under the assessment system will want the repairs now that the assessments aren’t attached to them.

If aldermen think liquor licenses can be a problematic pain — they ain’t seen nothin’ yet.

And, of course, if the state provided adequate local transportation needs, the entire wheel tax debate would not even be necessary.