Rhinelander voters in April approved a half-cent-on-a-dollar sales tax called the Premier Resort Area Tax.
This special tax is granted by the legislature to enable tourist communities to repair roads damaged by increased tourist traffic. The final local step passed a test Monday night as the city council conducted a final public hearing.
City Administrator Kristina Aschenbrenner says there were no objections...
"....we didn't have anyone speak to to that, so it passed. The city will now certify those results, send it to the (state)Department of Revenue and Revenue takes it from there to get us going for our January 1(2017) implementation...."
The "PRAT" tax as it's known, was passed by a wide margin of Rhinelander voters. In other action, the council approved a new 72 unit apartment complex across Driscoll Road from the current Hidden Valley Estates.
AHMC Properties operates the current complex .Aschenbrenner says the same company is building a second set of apartments...
"....currently there's a 72 unit apartment complex there already and the same developer is looking to do another 72 unit complex on the other side of the road, so kind of a mirrored project. That was approved....."
When the first set of buildings were constructed, local residents expressed concern about the viability of Driscoll Road to handle the extra traffic. Officials said at the time the road could handle the traffic.
