Legal Advertisement City of Franklin Common Council

Legal Advertisement
City of Franklin
Common Council
ORDINANCE NO. 25-04
AN ORDINANCE
IMPOSING A MUNICI-
PAL WHEEL TAX AND
MOTOR VEHICLE
LICENSE EXCISE TAX
AND CREATING THE
CITY OF FRANKLIN
WHEEL TAX FUND AND
THE CITY OF FRANKLIN
MOTOR VEHICLE
LICENSE EXCISE
SURTAX FUND

WHEREAS, the legisla-
ture of the State of Indiana
through legislation pro-
posed in the 2025 legisla-
tive session has revised
Indiana real estate prop-
erty taxes in such a man-
ner that the City of Frank-
lin is projected to see sub-
stantial decreases in tax
dollars available for City of
Franklin projects;
WHEREAS, the City of
Franklin has been advised
that with the new legisla-
tion, absent the adoption
of this Ordinance, the City
of Franklin would not be
eligible for Community
Crossings Matching
Grants;
WHEREAS, Ind. Code
6-3.5-1 I et seq. (the
"Wheel Tax Act") author-
izes the Common Council
of the City of Franklin, In-
diana ("Common Council")
to impose by ordinance an
annual wheel tax ("Wheel
Tax") of not more than
forty dollars ($40.00) on
certain motor vehicles reg-
istered within the City of
Franklin (the "City");
WHEREAS, Ind. Code
6-3.5-10 et seq. (the
"Excise Tax Act") author-
izes the Common Council
to impose by ordinance an
annual municipal vehicle
license excise tax surtax
(the "Excise Surtax") at a
rate of not more than
Twenty-Five Dollars
($25.00) on certain vehi-
cles registered in the City;
WHEREAS, the Wheel
Tax Act authorizes the
Common Council to im-
pose the Wheel Tax at a
different rate for each
class of vehicle subject to
the Wheel Tax Act.
Additionally, the Wheel
Tax Act authorizes the
Common Council to estab-
lish different rates within
different classes of bus-
ses, recreational vehicles,
semitrailers, trailers,
trucks, and tractors based
on weight classifications
established by the Indiana
Bureau of Motor Vehicles
("BMV");
WHEREAS, the Excise
Tax Act authorizes the
Council to impose the Ex-
cise Surtax on each motor
vehicle that is subject to
the tax or impose the Ex-
cise Tax on vehicles sub-
ject to the Excise Surtax at
one or more different
amounts based upon the
class of vehicles;
WHEREAS, the Wheel
Tax Act prohibits the Com-
mon Council from adopt-
ing an ordinance imposing
a Wheel Tax unless the
Common Council concur-
rently adopts an ordinance
under Ind. Code
6-3.5-10-1 et seq. to im-
pose the annual motor ve-
hicle license excise surtax;
WHEREAS, pursuant to
Ind. Code 6-3.5-10-1 et
seq., the City Council is
concurrently adopting a
Motor Vehicle License Ex-
cise Surtax;
WHEREAS, the Council
may not adopt an Ordi-
nance to impose the sur-
tax unless the City uses a
traffic asset management
plan approved by the Indi-
ana Department of Trans-
portation (INDOT);
WHEREAS, the City
utilizes a traffic asset man-
agement plan referred to
as its Pavement Asset
Management Plan, which
is approved annually by
INDOT and is outlined in
the attached Exhibit A, in-
corporated herein by refer-
ence;
WHEREAS, the Com-
mon Council deems it nec-
essary to impose the Ex-
cise Surtax and the Wheel
Tax so that it may gener-
ate revenue to support the
safe operation and contin-
ued maintenance of the
streets and roads under
the jurisdiction of the City.
NOW, THEREFORE,
BE IT ORDAINED BY
THE COMMON COUNCIL
OF THE CITY OF
FRANKLIN, INDIANA AS
FOLLOWS:
Section I. The Municipal
Code of the City of Frank-
lin shall be amended to
create a Section desig-
nated 3.12.110: Wheel
Tax and Fund under
Chapter 3.12: City Fund
Accounts of Title 3: Reve-
nue & Finance to the City
of Franklin Municipal
Code.
Wheel Tax and Fund.
(a) Definitions. The defi-
nitions and provisions set
forth in Ind. Code
6-3.5-11-1 are incorpo-
rated herein by reference
and shall apply throughout
this Ordinance.
(b) City of Franklin
Wheel Tax Fund. The
"City of Franklin Wheel
Tax Fund" is hereby cre-
ated and shall be a
non-reverting fund. The
City may only use the
Wheel Tax revenues for
the following purposes:
(1) to construct, recon-
struct, repair, or maintain
streets and roads that are
under the jurisdiction of
the City;
(2) as a contribution to
an authority established
under Ind. Code 36-7-23;
(3) for the City's contri-
bution to obtain a grant
from the local road and
bridge matching grant
fund under Ind. Code
8-23-30; and (4) any other
allowable uses under Ind.
Code 6-3.5-11.
(c) Imposition and Rate
of Wheel Tax. Effective
January 1, 2026, the fol-
lowing vehicles registered
in the City of Franklin and
subject to the Wheel Tax
shall incur a Wheel Tax in
the amount of Forty Dol-
lars ($40.00) pursuant to
Ind. Code 6-3.5-11-1 et
seq.
(1) Buses;
(2) Recreational vehi-
cles;
(3) Semitrailers;
(4) Trailers with a de-
clared gross weight of
more than nine thousand
(9,000) pounds; and
(5) Trucks and tractors
with a declared gross
weight or more than
eleven thousand (11,000)
pounds.
(d) Pursuant to Ind.
Code 6-3.5-11-4, a ve-
hicle is exempt from the
Wheel Tax if the vehicle
is:
(1) owned by the State
of Indiana;
(2) owned by a state
agency of the State of In-
diana;
(3) owned by a political
subdivision of the State of
Indiana;
(4) subject to the an-
nual municipal vehicle li-
cense excise tax imposed
pursuant to Ind. Code
6-3.5-10;
(5) a bus owned and
operated by a religious or
non-profit youth organiza-
tion and used to transport
persons to religious ser-
vices or for the benefit of
its members;
(6) a school bus;
(7) a motor vehicle that
is funeral equipment and
that is used in the opera-
tion of funeral services as
defined in Ind. Code
25-15-2-17; or
(8) any other vehicle
exempt pursuant to Ind.
Code 6-3.5-11-4.
(e) The Wheel Tax shall
be paid to the Indiana Bu-
reau of Motor Vehicles
each year at the time the
vehicle is registered. The
City Clerk Treasurer shall
deposit the Wheel Tax
revenues in a fund to be
known as the "City of
Franklin Wheel Tax Fund"
and shall distribute the
City of Franklin Wheel Tax
Fund consistent with Ind.
Code 6-3.5-11-1 et seq.
(f) Accounting of Wheel
Tax Fund. On or before
October 1st of each year,
the City Clerk Treasurer
shall provide the Common
Council an estimate of the
Wheel Tax revenues to be
received by the City during
the next calendar year.
The City shall include the
estimated Wheel Tax rev-
enues in the City's budget
estimate for the calendar
year.
(g) Transmittal of Ordi-
nance. The Common
Council authorizes the
Mayor or the Mayor's des-
ignee to provide a copy of
this Ordinance to the Indi-
ana Department of Reve-
nue andtheIndianaBureau
of Motor Vehicles and re-
quired by Ind. Code
6-3.5-11-8.
Section 2. Title 3 of Mu-
nicipal Code of the City of
Franklin shall further be
amended to add a Section
designated as 3.12.120:
Motor Vehicle License Ex-
cise Surtax and Fund.
Motor Vehicle License
Excise Surtax and Fund
(a) Definitions. The defi-
nitions and provisions set
forth in Ind. Code
63.5-10-1 are incorpo-
rated herein by reference
and shall apply throughout
this Ordinance.
(b) City of Franklin Mo-
tor Vehicle License Excise
Surtax Fund. The "City of
Franklin Motor Vehicle Li-
cense Excise Surtax
Fund" is hereby created
and shall be a
non-reverting fund. The
City may use the Excise
Surtax revenues for the
following purposes:
(1) to construct, recon-
struct, repair, or maintain
streets and roads under
the City's jurisdiction;
(2) for the City's contri-
bution to obtain a grant
from the local road and
bridge matching grant
fund under Ind. Code
8-23-30; or
(3) any other allowable
uses under Ind. Code
6-3.5-10.
(c) Imposition and Rate
of Excise Surtax. Effective
January 1, 2026, the fol-
lowing vehicles,registered
in the City of Franklin
andsubject to the Motor
Vehicle License Excise
Tax, shall be subject to
the Excise Surtax in the
amount of Twenty-Five
Dollars ($25.00), pursuant
to Ind. Code 6-3.5-10-1
et seq.
(1) Passenger motor
vehicles.
(2) Motorcycles.
(3) Motor driven cycles.
(4) Collector vehicles.
(5) Trailer vehicles with
a declared gross weight of
9,000 pounds or less.
(6) Trucks with a de-
clared gross weight of
11,000 pounds or less.
(7) Mini-trucks.
(8) Military vehicles.
The Excise Surtax shall
be paid with the registra-
tion of each such vehicle.
(d) The City Clerk
Treasurer shall deposit
revenue received from the
Excise Surtax in a fund to
be known as the "City of
Franklin Motor Vehicle Li-
cense Excise Surtax
Fund" and shall distribute
the Surtax Fund consist-
ent with Ind. Code 6-
3.5-10-10.
(e) Accounting of Wheel
Tax Fund. On or before
October 1 st of each year,
the City Clerk Treasurer
shall provide the Common
Council an estimate of the
Excise Surtax revenues to
be received by the City
during the next calendar
year. The City shall in-
clude the estimated Ex-
cise Surtax revenues in
theCity's budget estimate
for the calendar year.
(f) Transmittal of Ordi-
nance. The Common
Council authorizes the
Mayor or his designee to
provide a copy of this Or-
dinance to the Indiana De-
partment of Revenue and
the Indiana Bureau of Mo-
tor Vehicles and required
by Ind. Code 6-3.5-10-6.
Section 3. The WHEREAS
Recitals are incorporated
herein by reference.
Section 4. All prior ordi-
nances or parts thereof in-
consistent with any provi-
sion of this Ordinance are
hereby repealed. This Or-
dinance shall have no ef-
fect upon any other sec-
tions of the Franklin Mu-
nicipal Codeor ordinances
notspecifically changed by
this Ordinance, except
asherein provided,and all
other sections of the
Franklin Municipal Code
not inconsistent here with
remain the same.
Section 5. The sections,
paragraphs, sentences,
clauses, phrases and
words of this Ordinance
are separable, and if any
word, phrase, clause, sen-
tence, paragraph or sec-
tion of this Ordinance shall
be declared unconstitu-
tional, invalid or unen-
forceable by the valid
judgment or decree of a
Court of competent juris-
diction, such unconstitu-
tionality, invalidity or unen-
forceability shall not affect
any of the remaining
words, phrases, clauses,
sentences, paragraphs
and sections of this ordi-
nance.
Section 6. This Ordi-
nance shall be in full force
and effect from and after
its passage, approval and
publication according to
law.
INTRODUCED on the
21ST day of April, 2025
DULY PASSED on this
5th day of May, 2025, by
the Common Council of
the City of Franklin, John-
son County, Indiana, hav-
ing been passed by a vote
of 7 in Favor and 0 Op-
posed.

Kenneth Austin, President
Todd Shuck
Anne McGuinness
Irene Nalley
Jennifer Price
Josh Prine
Shawn Taylor
Attest:
Jan Jones, City
Clerk-Treasurer
60148766 hspaxlp
(J) 05-09-2025