WESTVILLE – Mayor Jeff Ellis said Tuesday the public will vote this spring on a proposal to add a 5-cent tax on each gallon of gasoline sold in the village.

Last December, the board voted to have the village attorney research and write an ordinance for board approval to impose a gasoline tax. Village officials never determined how much money a 5-cent gasoline tax would likely generate, and the tax was not implemented.

But recently, Ellis said, the decision was made to allow the public to vote directly on whether or not to approve the tax.

Last winter, Westville Village Board member Sheldon Smith said that he would like to see the village find new revenue that could be sent directly to the sewer fund, instead of using the village's general fund to pay for expensive sewer repairs and upgrades. Improvements to the Michigan Street lift pump station, for example, may cost as much as $235,000.

At the time, Smith said Danville already had a 5-cent tax on each gallon of gasoline sold in that city, and gas stations in Westville and Danville often charged the same amount for gasoline.

Also, Smith has said he preferred a gasoline tax – which may generate money from out-of-town customers – to reinstating a property tax in the village. There has been no village property tax in Westville since 1969.

Board member Dena Jenkins, who chairs the village's finance committee, said she has heard a lot of pros and cons from area residents about the proposed gasoline tax, and is pleased that the issue will be placed on the ballot.

Board member Rick Jones said he would like to see a portion of any revenues from a gasoline tax go toward street repairs instead of being used exclusively for sewer projects.

Ellis said that even if the gasoline tax idea is rejected by voters, it is inevitable that something will be done to increase revenues for the village.

Last month, Village Treasurer Mike Larson estimated that the village was owed about $150,000 from the state. A recent project to resurface a portion of East and West Main Streets with asphalt cost the village about $176,000, and used up almost all of the motor-fuel tax money used annually for other street repairs.

Ellis said one option to raise revenues would be to increase the utility rates in the village. Larson estimated that customers of Westville heating fuel purchased about 1.5 million therms of fuel last year and that a 5-cent increase in the per-therm cost would generate about $75,000.