Chapter 3.15
TRANSPORTATION UTILITY FEE
Sections:
3.15.010 Creation and purpose.
3.15.030 Administrative officers designated.
3.15.040 Transportation utility fees allocated to the transportation utility fee fund.
3.15.050 Determination of transportation utility fee.
3.15.060 Determination of amount, billing and collection of fee.
3.15.080 Waiver of fees in case of vacancy.
3.15.090 Reduction of fees for low income households.
3.15.010 Creation and purpose.
A transportation utility fee is created and imposed for the purpose of maintaining the city of Veneta’s streets. The transportation utility fee shall be paid by the responsible party for each billing unit or occupied unit of real property per the terms of this chapter. The purposes of the transportation utility fee are to charge users for the service the city provides in maintaining public streets and to ensure that maintenance occurs in a timely fashion, thereby reducing increased costs that result when maintenance is deferred. (Ord. 527 § 1, 2016)
3.15.020 Definitions.
Unless otherwise defined herein, terms used in this chapter have the meaning ascribed by VMC 3.20.005. As used in this chapter, the following terms shall mean:
“City” means the city of Veneta.
“City administrator” means the city’s administrator or the city administrator’s designee.
“Council” means the city council for the city of Veneta.
“Developed property” means a parcel or legal portion of real property, on which an improvement exists or has been constructed. Improvement on developed property includes, but is not limited to, buildings, parking lots, landscaping and outside storage.
“Finance director” means the city finance director or the finance director’s designee.
“Nonresidential property” means property that is not primarily used for personal domestic accommodation. Nonresidential property includes industrial, commercial, institutional, hotel and motel, group homes, and other nonresidential uses.
“Occupied unit” means any structure or any portion of any structure occupied for residential, commercial, industrial, or other purposes. For example, in a multifamily residential development, each dwelling unit shall be considered a separate occupied unit when occupied, and each retail outlet in a shopping mall shall be considered a separate occupied unit. An occupied unit may include more than one structure if all structures are part of the same dwelling unit or commercial or industrial operation. For example, an industrial site with several structures that form an integrated manufacturing process operated by a single manufacturer constitutes one occupied unit. Property that is undeveloped or, if developed, is not in current use is not considered an occupied unit.
“Public works director” means the city public works director or the public works director’s designee.
“Residential property” means property that is used primarily for personal domestic accommodation, including single-family, multifamily residential property and home occupations, but not including group homes, hotels and motels.
“Responsible party” means the person or persons who by occupancy or contractual arrangement are responsible to pay for utility and other services provided to an occupied unit. Unless another party has agreed in writing to pay and a copy of the writing is filed with the city, the person(s) paying the city’s water or sewer bill for an occupied unit shall be deemed the responsible party as to that occupied unit. For any occupied unit not otherwise required to pay a city utility bill, “responsible party” shall mean the person or persons legally entitled to occupancy of the occupied unit, unless another responsible party has agreed in writing to pay and a copy of the writing is filed with the city. Any person who has agreed in writing to pay is considered the responsible party if a copy of the writing is filed with the city.
“Street maintenance” means any action to maintain or improve city streets, including repair, renewal, resurfacing, replacement, and reconstruction. Street maintenance does not include work that increases the capacity of a street such as street widening, adding bike lanes or sidewalks, or the construction of new streets or street lighting. Street maintenance shall include resurfacing of existing streets; the repair, replacement or addition of curb and gutters; improving storm drainage; updating ADA access; repair or replacement of the entire existing street structural section; repair or replacement of existing street shoulders, pavement markers, striping and other street markings; repair or replacement of existing channelization devices; adjustment of existing utilities to match finish grades; and any other related work within existing streets. (Ord. 527 § 2, 2016)
3.15.030 Administrative officers designated.
(1) Except as provided in subsections (2) and (3) of this section, the city administrator shall be responsible for the administration of this chapter. The city administrator shall be responsible for developing administrative procedures for this chapter, administration of fees, and for the purposes of establishing the fee for a specific occupied unit, and the consideration and assignment of categories of use subject to appeal in accordance with this chapter.
(2) The public works director shall be responsible for developing and maintaining street maintenance programs for the maintenance of city streets and, subject to city budget committee review and city council approval, allocation and expenditure of budget resources for street system maintenance in accordance with this chapter.
(3) The finance director shall be responsible for the collection and calculation of fees. (Ord. 527 § 3, 2016)
3.15.040 Transportation utility fees allocated to the transportation utility fee fund.
(1) All transportation utility fees received shall be deposited into the street fund or other fund dedicated to the operation and maintenance of the city street system. Other revenue sources may also be used for street maintenance. Amounts in the street fund may be invested by the finance director in accordance with state law. Earnings from such investments shall be dedicated to the street fund.
(2) The street fund shall not be used for other governmental or proprietary purposes of the city, except to pay for an equitable share of the city’s overhead costs including accounting, management and other costs related to management and operation of the street maintenance program. Engineering design, pavement evaluation, construction management, and other related costs, including project advertisements for bid, in the implementation of the street maintenance projects shall also be considered as being used for street maintenance. (Ord. 527 § 4, 2016)
3.15.050 Determination of transportation utility fee.
(1) A transportation utility fee is hereby established and shall be based upon the following:
(a) The city’s priority corrective and preventative street maintenance projects.
(b) For residential property, the fee shall be charged on a per unit basis.
(c) For nonresidential property, the fee shall be charged on a per unit basis.
(2) The amount of the transportation utility fee shall be set by council resolution.
(3) The transportation utility fee program shall be reviewed annually as part of the city’s budget process.
(4) Following each review of the program, the finance director shall review the revenue received from the new rates after a full year of collection to determine if the annual revenues meet the annual funding level needed for the priority street maintenance projects. The finance director shall report the findings of that review to city council and may make recommendations on any potential fee increases or decreases based on that review. Any unspent funds will be carried over to the following year’s beginning fund balance for the street fund. (Ord. 527 § 5, 2016)
3.15.060 Determination of amount, billing and collection of fee.
(1) Based upon the fees set by council resolution, the finance director shall charge a per unit transportation utility fee to the responsible party for each billing unit with an active utility account or, for occupied units not connected to city water and/or sewer, to the responsible party for each occupied unit of residential and nonresidential property. The amount payable shall be redetermined if there is a change in use or development. All redeterminations based on a change in use or development shall be prospective only.
(2) The transportation utility fee shall be billed to and collected from the responsible party identified in subsection (1) of this section. Transportation utility fees shall be included as part of the water and sewer bill for billing units with active utility accounts, and included on an “other utility” bill for occupied units not connected to city water or sewer services. All such bills shall be rendered regularly by the finance director and shall become due and payable upon receipt.
(3) Collections from responsible parties will be applied first to interest and penalties, second to transportation utility fees, third to stormwater drainage fees, fourth to sanitary sewer service utilities, and last to water utilities.
(4) An account is delinquent if the transportation utility fee is not paid by the due date shown on the utility bill. The city may follow the procedures for collection of delinquent accounts as outlined in Chapters 3.20 and 3.25 VMC, including termination of water and sanitary sewer service.
(5) For newly developed properties, the fees imposed under this chapter shall become due and payable from and after the earlier of the date when the developed property is occupied or when city water or sanitary sewer system service is initiated. (Ord. 527 § 6, 2016)
3.15.070 Exemption.
Transportation utility fees imposed under this chapter shall apply to all billing units and occupied units per VMC 3.15.060(1), including property which may be entitled to exemption from or deferral of ad valorem property taxation. Such units owned or occupied by local, state and federal governments are exempt from the transportation utility fee. (Ord. 527 § 7, 2016)
3.15.080 Waiver of fees in case of vacancy.
(1) When any developed property within the city becomes vacant as described in subsection (5) of this section, upon written application by the responsible party and approval by the finance director, the transportation utility fee shall thereafter not be billed until such time as the property is no longer vacant.
(2) The finance director is authorized to cause an investigation of any property for which an application for determination of vacancy is submitted to verify any of the information contained in the application. The finance director is further authorized to develop and use a standard form of application, provided it shall contain a space for verification of the information and the person signing such form affirms under penalty for false swearing the accuracy of the information provided therein.
(3) When any developed property within the city has the utilities shut off due to vacancy, the transportation utility fee shall be waived for the duration of the vacancy as described in subsection (5) of this section.
(4) When a change of use occurs, a vacancy has been filled, or a property is developed, it is the responsible party’s responsibility to inform the city of any change so the proper transportation utility fees may be assessed. If the responsible party does not inform the city of any change, the city shall cancel the vacancy waiver and charge the responsible party as per subsection (5) of this section.
(5) For purposes of this section, developed property is vacant when it has been continuously unoccupied and unused for at least 30 days. Fees shall be waived in accordance with this section only while the property remains vacant. The waiver duration is for six months. After six months, the responsible party must reapply for the waiver if the property continues to be unoccupied and unused. The responsible party has 30 days to reapply for the vacancy waiver after the expiration of the six-month waiver. Any occupancy or use of the property terminates the waiver. As a penalty for not reporting a change in property vacancy, the city may charge any property two times the appropriate transportation utility fee that would have been due without the vacancy waiver for prior billing periods, upon determining, in city’s sole discretion, that the property did not qualify for waiver of charges during the relevant time. The decision of the finance director under subsections (1), (2), and (5) of this section is final. (Ord. 527 § 8, 2016)
3.15.090 Reduction of fees for low income households.
Upon written application by the responsible party and approval by the finance director, occupied units receiving or otherwise eligible for a reduction in water and sewer base fees per the city’s low-income eligibility policy shall receive a commensurate reduction in the transportation utility fee charged. The finance director’s decision under this section is final. (Ord. 527 § 9, 2016)
3.15.100 Appeals.
(1) The city administrator shall have the initial authority and responsibility to interpret all terms, provisions and requirements of this chapter and to determine the appropriate charges thereunder. The responsible party for an occupied unit may request reconsideration of the public work director’s determination of the amount of the fee by submission of a written application to the city administrator. The application shall be supported with sufficient factual details to enable the city administrator to render a decision.
(2) Within 30 days of the submission of a complete application requesting reconsideration of the amount of the transportation utility fee to be charged to an occupied unit, the city administrator shall render a decision on the application. The decision shall be written and shall include findings of fact and conclusions for the particular aspects of the decision, based upon applicable criteria. A copy of the decision shall be mailed to the person submitting the request.
(3) For the purpose of reviewing the fee, the city administrator may determine that the land use category is proper and that the fee charged is appropriate. However, if the decision of the city administrator results in a change in the category of land use, the city administrator shall, for the purpose of establishing the fee, assign a new use category, and notify the finance director so that the appropriate change may be made in the applicable fee to be charged in the future. No back charges or refunds are required.
(4) The responsible party may appeal the city administrator’s determination to the council. The notice of appeal must be filed in writing within 10 days of the date notice of change of category of land use and determination of fee is sent and must be filed with the office of the city administrator in writing, stating:
(a) The name and address of the appellant.
(b) The address of the affected premises.
(c) The nature of the determination being appealed.
(d) The reason the determination is incorrect.
(e) What the correct determination of the appeal should be.
A responsible party who fails to file such a statement within the time permitted waives his or her objections and the appeal shall be dismissed. If notice of appeal is properly filed, except in an emergency, the city shall take no enforcement action regarding the responsible party’s failure to pay the transportation utility fee until the council renders a final determination on the appeal.
At its next available meeting, the council shall hear and determine the appeal on the basis of the written statement and such additional evidence as the council deems appropriate. The appellant shall be allowed at least 10 days’ written notice of the hearing on appeal. At the hearing the appellant may present testimony and oral argument personally or by counsel, and additional evidence. The rules of evidence as used by courts of law do not apply. The decision of the council shall be in writing and shall contain findings of fact that substantiate the council’s decision. The decision shall be mailed to the appellant within 10 days of the completion of the appeal hearing. The decision of the council shall be final. (Ord. 527 § 10, 2016)
3.15.110 Penalty.
In addition to any other remedy, violation of any provision of this chapter shall, upon conviction, constitute a violation punishable by a maximum fine of $360.00. Each day of delinquency in paying the transportation utility fee constitutes a separate violation. (Ord. 527 § 11, 2016)