It's no secret that Muncie roads could use some repairs.
That's why the Delaware County Council plans to approve a wheel tax at its June 28 meeting.
This tax, which will amount to an extra $25 payment for the average vehicle, is a good idea only if the money actually goes to improve roads. It would be against the law for the money to go to any other purpose, but governmental bodies have been known to skew the books when it comes to this kind of thing.
Let's hope that those in control of the money will not find a way to divert it to other causes in the county. Muncie-area citizens deserve better than that.
The extra $2 million a year that this tax is expected to bring in could be the answer to many complaints that students and local residents share about the quality of the pavement -- or lack thereof -- in some neighborhoods.
However, whenever there is a tax like this, people want to see the rewards quickly. If the money raised is used the way it should be, rewards will be seen soon, but the rewards might not be visible in the places students and residents want.
Ball State University students need to remember that this tax is for the entire county. While roads that are used frequently by students may see the benefits of this tax at some point, not all of the tax money will go to fix the roads that are at the top of many students' need-fixed lists.
Almost half of the $2 million will go to county roads, which students don't generally use unless they live in Delaware County.
However, this doesn't mean that students have no reason to look forward to the road repairs that will follow the tax. Just because streets like Rex, Carson and Ashland may not be the first ones repaired doesn't mean that students won't be enjoying some of the newly pothole-free roads.
Students can also look forward to the Muncie Street Department potentially being able to do better work when patching potholes on the roads frequently used by students. And students must remember that, as most of them aren't Muncie or Delaware County citizens, they will not make up the highest percentage of the payers of the tax, so they do not necessarily deserve to receive the majority of its benefits.
All in all, the whole situation comes down to the tendency of people to want something for nothing. People always complain about the quality of Muncie roads, so the town did something about it -- meaning tax payers shouldn't complain about paying a tax that will clearly and greatly benefit them.
Decide what's more important: paying $5 to $40 more a year because of the tax or paying thousands of dollars for car repairs from hitting a moon crater you thought was just a small puddle in the road.
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