An August 18 Kansas City Star article details how the city council of Mission, Kansas, has enacted a Transportation Utility Fee, also known as a “driveway tax” to help fund roads. The amount of the annual fee is based on how much vehicle traffic a property generates. The City plans on using revenues generated from the fee to pay for roads maintenance and to fund a new express bus line.
Mission homeowners and businesses are going to pay for roads in a new way that officials believe breaks ground in the Midwest.
Instead of relying on sales and property taxes for roads, the city will start charging fees based on how much traffic properties produce.
The City Council on Wednesday night approved a new fee charging every homeowner $72 a year and small businesses $3,558 a year beginning in December.
Larger businesses that generate lots of traffic, such as Mission Bank, could pay $5,659 a year. A drive-thru fast food restaurant could pay $12,200 a year. Target could pay as much as $64,750 annually.
City officials and some local experts believe the fee, sometimes called a “driveway tax,” would be the first in Kansas and possibly in the entire Midwest. …
The fee has had limited use across the country, but has become popular in Oregon, where it’s been adopted in at least 18 cities.