Starting next year, Owen County residents will be paying twice as much in local option highway user taxes and wheel taxes when they register their vehicles at the license branch after a recent vote by county council members seeking to increase revenue for road repairs.
The current highway user tax for cars, motorcycles and most pickup trucks will increase from $12.50 to $25. The wheel tax that applies to mopeds, larger trucks, semis, buses, trailers and recreational vehicles will increase from $5 to $10. With the tax hikes, the county expects to raise an additional $335,000 for repairs to rural roads.
