INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Two members of Indiana’s best political team on Friday said cities and towns in Indiana have little choice but to consider a wheel tax for road funding. The comments from Karlee Macer and Matt Bell, both former state lawmakers, follow the Greenwood Common Council’s vote this week to adopt a higher vehicle registration fee, commonly referred to as a wheel tax. That vote, in turn, follows Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett’s veto of a wheel tax in his city. Beech Grove is also considering its own wheel tax. Legislation approved last year allows cities that adopt a wheel tax to receive funds from the Community Crossings Fund. Bell, a Republican, said Indiana’s current tax structure does not provide enough funding to maintain and preserve Indiana’s roads, let alone to start new projects. He said adopting a wheel tax sets up a funding partnership between cities and the state government. “The challenges are so different from community to community. You can say a state program can fix this, but locally, you’re going to have to focus. The challenges in Greenwood are different from the challenges in Indianapolis. And I think that’s true in communities across the state,” he said. “Every community has to find their way to contribute to this. No one is going to come save us from road funding.” Macer, a Democrat, thinks municipalities essentially face a choice between adopting a wheel tax and allowing their roads to crumble. She said the state should do more on its end, though. “I know for many, many years here in Marion County, there were some mathematical errors, shall we say, where we weren’t getting all of the funding dollars that we should have for many years, and now we’re here in this boat,” she said. “So yes, I think there’s going to be people smarter than I looking at that fiscally of how we can do more to support Hoosiers.” All INdiana Politics airs at 9:30 a.m. Sunday on WISH-TV. ...read more read less