Summary
ORDINANCE NO. 1557
AN ORDINANCE ADDING SECTION 4.550 THROUGH 4.590 TO THE WEST LINN MUNICIPAL CODE RELATING TO IMPOSITION OF A ROADWAY MAINTENANCE FEE FOR MAINTENANCE AND UPKEEP OF EXISTING CITY STREETS AND ADJACENT PUBLIC RIGHT-OF-WAY
WHEREAS, West Linn has a network of public streets for which the City is responsible for maintenance; and,
WHEREAS, the City Council desires to develop a system whereby occupants of developed property provide funding for the continuing maintenance of the city’s public street system and adjacent public right-of-way; and.
WHEREAS, the City Council has received an analysis of the costs to maintain the public street system within West Linn at current conditions and the costs to improve the public street system within West Linn to a more uniformly high quality than exists at present; and,
WHEREAS, the City Council has determined that a stable and sufficient source of revenues is needed to ensure that West Linn can continue to maintain and improve the quality of its existing public street system, and that the lack of such a stable and sufficient source of revenues will lead to deterioration of the existing street system resulting in serious traffic safety consequences as well as the sustained interruption of residential, industrial and commercial flow of traffic and the blighting of residential and commercial neighborhoods and areas of the City; and.
WHEREAS, the City Council has determined that the ongoing maintenance of City public streets and adjacent public right-of-way provides ongoing, regularized benefits to existing city residents, businesses, and institutions, and that existing city residents, business and institutions use, enjoy, and benefit from the proper maintenance of City public streets and adjacent public rights-of-way, and thus expenditures to maintain existing City public streets and adjacent public rights-of-way should be treated as a city utility; and,
WHEREAS, the City Council finds that the allocation of the costs to the users of the city’s roadway system should be based upon the trips generated by such uses, with the generation rates provided by the Trip Generation Manual published by the Institute of Traffic Engineers (ITE), a recognized national organization of professionals with expertise in traffic engineering; and
WHEREAS, the City Council finds that the proposed method of allocating the roadway maintenance fee on the basis of trips generated appropriately balances costs between residential users and non-residential users of the City’s street system;
NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY OF WEST LINN ORDAINS AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. The West Linn Municipal Code is amended as follows with the addition of the following new sections:
ROADWAY MAINTENANCE SERVICE
4.550 Purpose
A Roadway Maintenance Fund is created for the purpose of providing for the operational maintenance of the City’s street system and adjacent public rights-of-way. The City declares the necessity of providing maintenance of the City’s roadway system as a roadway utility, providing a necessary and sustainable source of funding, with such maintenance to include actions necessary to 1) provide safe facilities, 2) properly maintain such facilities and areas to maximize their use, utility, and longevity, 3) maintain landscaped areas within the street rights-of-way, 4) provide maintenance for roadway facilities used by pedestrians, bicyclists, and mass transit users as well as those used by vehicle drivers, and 5) take any other action necessary to ensure that existing city roadways are maintained at standards that support the needs of city residents, businesses, and institutions.
4.552 Definitions
“Qualifying Roadway Maintenance Service Expenditures” Those portions of the annual budget which can be identified as relating to ordinary maintenance of public roadways for which the City of West Linn is responsible for maintenance, and also capital maintenance and upgrade of such existing roadways. Qualifying roadway maintenance fund expenditures shall include; 1) maintenance, repair, and replacement of street surfaces, street curbs and gutters, sidewalks, guardrails, traffic control markings, traffic control signs, street traffic signals, street striping, neighborhood traffic calming devices; 2) tree and brush trimming affecting city streets; 3) maintenance of street improvements used by pedestrians, bicyclists, and mass transit users; 4) administrative, engineering design, construction management, and other related costs of administering the roadway utility maintenance fund; 5) street lighting expenses; and 6) any other items that can be reasonably related to the ordinary and capital maintenance of existing City public streets and adjacent public rights-of-way.
“Residential Unit.” Any single-family residence, detached or attached, duplex, manufactured home, or multi-family dwelling, apartment or condominium within the corporate boundaries of West Linn. Accessory dwelling units shall not be considered residential units unless they are on a separate water meter.
“Structure Square Footage.” The area of a building enclosed on all four sides by walls, doors, windows, or similar enclosures.
4.555 Roadway Maintenance Service Fees shall only be used for Qualifying Roadway Maintenance Service Expenditures
The roadway maintenance service fees shall be used only for qualifying roadway maintenance service expenditures. Qualifying expenditures shall be identified by the City Manager in each fiscal year budget, and shall be reviewed and approved by the City Council when adopting the budget.
4.560 Establishment and Revision of Roadway Maintenance Service Fee
The City Council hereby establishes a roadway maintenance service fee to be paid by the responsible party for each residential unit and each non-residential use within the corporate limits of the City. The annual amount of the aggregate fee collected shall be based upon the annual amount of qualifying roadway maintenance service expenditures as determined in the City Budget, taking into consideration other potential sources of revenue available to the City for qualifying roadway maintenance service expenditures. If the actual amount of roadway maintenance service fees collected in any fiscal year exceeds the actual amount of qualifying roadway maintenance service expenditures during the same fiscal year, the resulting surplus shall be credited toward the following year’s qualifying roadway maintenance service expenditures, and the roadway maintenance service fee rate shall be reduced accordingly. Any deficit in funds at the end of each budget year shall be reconciled with other funds available to the City. If additional revenues become available to the city from the state gasoline tax, the City shall proportionately reduce the amount of the roadway maintenance service fee to account for the increase.
4.562 Duties of Director of Public Works.
The Director of Public Works shall be responsible for administration of the roadway maintenance fund, including developing maintenance programs, establishing standards for the operation and maintenance of city streets and adjacent public rights-of-way, developing administrative procedures for the roadway maintenance fund and service fee, consideration and assignment of classifications of use for the purpose of establishing a trip generation rate and total trips generated, determination of appropriate building square footage for purposes of calculating total trips generated, and all other activities related to the purpose of the roadway maintenance fund, except as provided by Section 4.564. The Public Works Director will make an annual report on the work performed using the roadway maintenance fund and the work projected for the next year.
4.564 Duties of Finance Director
The Finance Director shall be responsible for the collection of roadway maintenance service fees.
4.570 Calculation of Roadway Maintenance Service Fee for Residential Units
The roadway maintenance service fee to be collected for each residential unit in the City shall be established by resolution of the City Council.
4.572 Calculation of Roadway Maintenance Service Fee for Non-Residential Uses
The roadway maintenance service fee for non-residential uses shall be based upon the most recently published edition of Trip Generation prepared by the Institute of Traffic Engineers (ITE). The City Council shall establish the most appropriate rate, and may use sliding scales, maximum caps, or other techniques in setting appropriate rates.
The structure square footage used for purposes of calculating the appropriate roadway maintenance service fee for non-residential uses shall be the structure square footage documented in city records, including building permits, business licenses, or other available data. At the responsible party’s request, the City shall conduct an on-site survey to determine the appropriate square footage measurement for calculating the appropriate roadway maintenance service fee. The maximum fee for any individual business establishment shall be $440 per month, which may be increased by a maximum of three percent annually. The maximum fee for any public or institutional establishment shall be $300 per month.
4.574 Calculation of Roadway Maintenance Service Fee for Mixed Uses
Roadway utility users with both residential and non-residential uses shall pay a service fee based upon calculating the residential and non-residential uses separately, and then adding the two calculations together. Roadway utility users with mixed non-residential uses shall pay the rate associated with the predominant or largest type of non-residential use
4.575 Annual Review of Roadway Maintenance Service Fee
The amount of the roadway maintenance service fee shall be reviewed annually by the City Council and shall be adjusted as necessary to provide adequate funding for the qualifying roadway maintenance service expenditures as defined in Section 4.552.
4.580 Reduced Roadway Maintenance Service Fee for Low Income Residents
Reduced roadway maintenance service fees for residential units shall be made available to low-income citizens meeting the eligibility requirements pursuant to Section 4.155. The user charge for the roadway maintenance service fee provided to the principal resident or family having a maximum income under the qualifying income limits shall be fifty percent (50%) of the roadway maintenance service fee.
4.581 Initiation of Roadway Maintenance Service Fee
The roadway maintenance service fee shall be collected from each utility customer from the time a building permit is issued for the subject property. The City shall initiate a roadway maintenance service account upon issuance of a building permit to collect the roadway maintenance service fee. The amount of the fee shall be the amount to be charged upon completion of the building as set forth in the City’s fee schedule. If the building permit expires without completion of construction and is not renewed prior to expiration, the roadway maintenance service fee shall be terminated as of the date of expiration.
4.582 Billing and Collection of Roadway Maintenance Service Fee
The responsible party shall pay a monthly roadway maintenance service fee according to the rate set forth in Section 4.570, 4.572, or 4.574. Unless another responsible party has agreed in writing to pay and a copy of that writing is filed with the City, the person or entity paying the City’s water utility charges shall pay the roadway maintenance service fee for the same property or use that receives water service on that account. If water service to a property is discontinued at the request of the responsible party for a period of at least 15 days, the property shall be considered vacant or use discontinued, and no roadway maintenance service fee shall be charged for that residence or non-residential property or use while a vacancy exists. If a residential property or a portion of a non-residential property is vacant, or a non-residential use is discontinued, for greater than 30 days and water service is still provided to the property, the City will not assess some or all of the roadway maintenance service fee upon written application for non-assessment by the responsible party and verification by the city of the vacancy.
4.585 Recovery of Unpaid Charges – Enforcement
Any roadway maintenance service fee due that is not paid when due may be recovered from the responsible party in an action at law by the City. In addition to any other remedies or penalties provided by this or any other ordinance of the City, failure of any user to pay the roadway maintenance service fee when due shall subject such user to discontinuance of water service pursuant to procedures authorized by Section 4.235 of the Municipal Code.
4.590 Moneys to be Paid into Roadway Maintenance Fund
All roadway maintenance service fees collected by the City shall be paid into the roadway maintenance fund and used only for qualifying roadway maintenance service expenditures. To the extent that the fees collected do not fully fund qualifying roadway maintenance service expenditures, the City may use other City funds as determined by the City Council to make up the difference. The roadway maintenance service fees collected may not be used for general or other governmental or proprietary uses of the City. It shall not be necessary that the operations and maintenance expenditures from the fund specifically relate to any particular property from which the fees for said purposes were collected.
4.595 Appeal
Upon written request from a utility customer, the City Manager, upon the advice of the Director of Public Works or Finance Director, as appropriate, shall issue a written determination concerning any administrative aspect of the roadway maintenance service fee that affects the utility customer. Within 15 days of the issuance of this written determination, the utility customer may appeal the administrative determination to the City Council. The City Council shall hold a public hearing and may affirm, overturn, or modify the decision of the City Manager.
(existing Sections 4.600 through 4.710 remain unchanged)
4.800 Allocation of Insufficient Utility Customer Payments
In the event funds received from the City’s utility billings for water, sanitary sewer, storm sewer, roadways, and parks are inadequate to satisfy in full all of an individual customer’s utility charge, the funds received shall be allocated first to the parks utility, second to the roadway maintenance utility, third to the storm sewer utility, fourth to the sanitary sewer utility, and last to the water utility.
PASSED AND APPROVED THIS 14th DAY OF JANUARY, 2008.
