It will cost $40 to park a car on the street and stick a “for sale” sign on it, under an ordinance adopted Tuesday by the Common Council.
Anyone wanting to sell a car on public property — namely, streets — will have to fill out an application and have the vehicle inspected by the Department of Public Works. There could be fines and towing for those who don’t obey.
The public not notified of the ordinance or provided an opportunity for input before the measure was debated and approved, 10-4, by the council Tuesday morning.
The $40 fee already is in effect in small areas of the city, and Ald. Joe Davis asked the council’s Public Safety Committee to extend it to his district as well. The committee, instead, recommended Tuesday morning that it be extended to the entire city and the council agreed a short time later.
A portion of Ald. Robert Donovan’s district was the first to be subject to the $40 fee. Donovan told the committee that the large volume of car sales on the streets were causing problems in some areas. He said some of the cars sold turned out to be stolen.
Ald. Robert Puente said it would be easier for police to enforce the ordinance if it were citywide.
Voting against the measure were Aldermen Jim Bohl, Michael Murphy and Joe Dudzik and Alderwoman Milele Coggs.
Barrett right on veto
Tuesday, August 12th, 2008Mayor 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.
Tags: Murphy, Streets, wheel tax
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