On 02/21/2022 the Municipal Services Committee received a very brief update on the Transportation Utility Funding Study. The committee had spent much of their time discussing the No Mow May resolution and was running short on time so this update was perhaps more truncated than it otherwise would have been.
As you may recall, the Common Council approved a resolution calling to conduct a transportation utility funding study and also approved funding to conduct that study. In September of 2021, the Finance Committee voted to recommend approving a transportation utility study contract with Ehlers/raSmith, and then the full Common Council approved that contract in October of 2021.
Alderperson Chad Doran (District 15) asked if they staff had any sense as to what point the results of the study might come before the committee.
Director of Public Works Paula Vandehey said she did not know. They were holding off on bringing it forward in order to see what direction legislation regarding transportation utilities went as well as a lawsuit regarding transportation utilities. They hoped to bring the item forward in a couple months, in time for the Council to consider it one way or another for the 2023 budget.
The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty is representing Wisconsin Property Taxpayers, Inc in a lawsuit against the Town of Buchanan regarding Buchanan’s transportation utility fee. Currently the next activity in that court case is a motion hearing scheduled for 06/06/2022.
Additionally, Assembly Bill 949 and Senate Bill 909 were just introduced earlier this month. If passed as written, municipalities would be required to reduce their property taxes by the amount of money they raise through a transportation user fee which would negatively impact the usefulness of transportation utility fees.
View full meeting details and video here: https://cityofappleton.legistar.com/MeetingDetail.aspx?ID=922397&GUID=189A4237-2841-4AF6-A758-ACF6AEDFE307
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