GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – Fixing the roads is arguably the number one request you hear from Green Bay residents and now the city is looking at a new way to possibly get more of that work done.
Green Bay is going to spend the next few months looking at whether it should replace its $20 annual wheel tax, which turns five years old at the start of 2024.
“The wheel tax is woefully insufficient to cover the cost of road construction, especially when half of it is really just eliminating special assessments,” said Brian Johnson, the vice president of Green Bay’s city council.
The wheel tax was designed to spread the cost of road work between all registered drivers in the city versus property owners paying large bills when work is done on their street.
Now the city is looking at changing to a transportation utility, which would charge property owners based on the average number of trips their property generates on a weekday. For example, a popular place like a retail store would pay more than a single-family home based of the number of vehicles that travel in and out of the properties.
“The more trips that the property generates, the higher the use of that transportation system and resulting in a higher fee that gets assessed as well,” said Steve Grenier, Green Bay’s public works director.
The consultant working with the city on the issue, provided a chart showing residents shoulder nearly two thirds of transportation costs in a typical urban community under the traditional funding model for road work. Under a transportation utility, the residents’ share is cut in half with retail and service properties taking on more of the cost.
“It would actually fund a lot more of the programs than what the wheel tax can currently support,” said Grenier.
Some communities, like Neenah, already use a transportation utility. Others, like Appleton and Oshkosh, have been looking into it.
Some communities have put a potential change on hold after the city of Pewaukee was sued over its transportation utility. A judge ruled it is ok because it is a fee and not a tax. However, that decision is being appealed.
“I think I mentioned I’m curious, I’m kind of equally skeptical,” said Alderperson Chris Wery. “I am intrigued, a little bit of both. My goals, I want to eliminate the wheel tax, eliminate special assessments.”
Wery says another goal is doing more road work. The city currently resurfaces or reconstructs about 6 miles of roads per year.
FOX 11 asked Grenier whether the city has a goal for how much more road work it could get done per year.
“At this point, we don’t. What we’re looking for is we want to do the model to see if it’s something that is feasible.”
The city council unanimously agreed to spend $100,000 to study the potential switch over the next 6 to 12 months.
City officials say the earliest a transportation utility could be implemented would be 2025.
