[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Board of the Town of Buchanan 12-12-2019 by Ord. No.
2019-04.[1] Amendments noted where applicable.]
[1]
Editor's Note: This ordinance was originally adopted
as Ch. 11 but was renumbered for organizational reasons.
A.
The Town of Buchanan Town Board finds that the timely maintenance
and reconstruction of the Town's transportation system to ensure
safe and efficient travel throughout the Town is a fundamental Town
responsibility. A structurally sound and well-maintained transportation
system enhances livability, property values and the economic vitality
of the entire Town. Further, the Town Board finds that a community-wide
Transportation Utility District applicable to all developed properties,
paid annually to a specially designated account for transportation
system maintenance and improvement, is an equitable and less-burdensome
approach to financing transportation system maintenance and improvements
in the Town.
B.
In order to protect the health, safety and welfare of the public,
the Town Board is exercising its authority to establish a Transportation
Utility District and implement a transportation utility fee. The Town
is acting under authority of § 66.0827 and §§ 66.0621,
66.0807, 66.0811 and 66.0813, Wis. Stats., as they may apply.
C.
The provisions of this chapter shall apply to all developed property
located within the Town of Buchanan, including, without limitation,
all property owned by local, state, and federal governments, nonprofit
organizations and all other property whether subject to real property
taxes or exempt therefrom.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
Properties containing a developed principal use or principal
structure.
The record owner of the property shall be the responsible
party for the payment of the transportation utility fee.
A.
The Town of Buchanan is hereby establishing a Transportation Utility
District. The operation of the Transportation Utility District shall
be under the day-to-day management of the Town Administrator and under
the supervision of the Town Board. He/she, or a designated representative,
shall provide an annual estimate to the Town Chairperson by October
1 of each year.
B.
The Town, acting through the Transportation Utility District, may,
without limitation due to enumeration, acquire, construct, lease,
own, operate, maintain, extend, expand, replace, repair, manage and
finance such transportation facilities and related facilities, operations
and activities, as are deemed by the Town to be proper and reasonably
necessary to provide safe and efficient transportation facilities
within the Town. The following activities to be funded by the transportation
utility fee are the cost of utility district highways, stormwater
management, sidewalks, street lighting, traffic control and the cost
of any other convenience or public improvement provided in the District
and not paid in full by special assessment.
A.
Every developed property within the Town of Buchanan shall pay a
transportation utility fee.
B.
The Town Board shall by resolution determine the annual amount to
be funded by a transportation utility fee, formulas for the calculation
of the fee and specific use category classifications. Changes in formulas
and classifications may be made by further resolution of the Town
Board. All fees established pursuant to this section shall be fair
and reasonable. A schedule of current fees shall be maintained and
on file in the office of the Town Clerk.
C.
Special assessment. Separate and in addition to any fees charged under this chapter, a special assessment may be imposed on property that is specially benefited by a particular transportation project or facility. This charge will be developed to reflect the benefits in a particular area that may not be appropriate to allocate to property throughout the Town and shall follow the special assessment processes defined within Chapter 10 and the relevant provisions of the Wisconsin State Statutes.
A.
All funds collected by the Town from a transportation utility fee
shall be deposited into a Transportation Utility District Fund ("fund"),
which is hereby created as an established enterprise fund in the Town
budget. Such revenues shall be used exclusively for the transportation
system purposes described wherein. Any excess of revenues over expenditures
in a year will be retained by the fund for subsequent years'
needs.
B.
To the extent that the fees collected are insufficient to properly
fund the transportation system purposes described wherein, the cost
of the same may be paid from such other Town funds as may be determined
by the Town Board. The Town Board may order reimbursement to such
fund as additional fees are thereafter collected. Funds shall not
be imposed in amounts greater than that which is necessary, in the
judgment of the Town Board, to provide sufficient funds to properly
operate, maintain and improve utility district highways, sewers, sidewalks,
street lighting and the cost of any other convenience or public improvement
provided in the district and not paid for by special assessment.
C.
It shall not be required that the operations, maintenance and improvement
expenditures from the fund specifically relate to any particular property
from which the fees were collected.
D.
All amounts in the fund may be invested in accordance with the Town
investment policy. Earnings from such investments will be credited
to the fund.
A.
The Town may improve other accepted local streets, bicycle and pedestrian
facilities, and roads and intersections with county roads or state
highways within or adjacent to the Town. Local streets to be improved
exclude private streets, streets or any other facilities not yet accepted
by the Town for maintenance and bridges.
B.
The cost of initial construction of local streets within the Town
right-of-way to serve new developments or subdivisions constructed
after the effective date of this chapter or subject to a developer's
agreement shall not be funded by the transportation utility fee.
A.
The transportation utility fee shall be billed and collected with
and as part of the annual property tax bill. The responsible party
for payment of the fee shall be the same person(s) or entity responsible
for payment of the parcel property tax bill. All such bills shall
be rendered annually by the Town and shall become due and payable
in accordance with the rules and regulations pertaining to the collection
of property tax bills.
B.
The Town Treasurer's Office shall be responsible for the fee
billing and placing all such fees collected into the fund and separately
kept to be used exclusively for the transportation system purposes
provided herein.
C.
The transportation utility fee for new developments shall commence
upon occupancy, or use of the improvements, whichever comes first.
The Town may prorate the fee based on the commencement date.
D.
Any unpaid transportation utility fee shall become a lien on the
property in the manner set forth in §§ 66.0809 and
66.0627, Wis. Stats. The fee shall automatically be extended on the
current or next tax roll as a delinquent tax against the property
and in all proceedings in relation to the collection, return and sale
of property for delinquent real estate taxes.
The Town of Buchanan elects not to be subject to the administrative
review provisions contained within Ch. 68, Wis. Stats., and establishes
the following as a complete and final review procedure:
A.
As a condition precedent to challenging the transportation utility
fee, the charge, if due, must be timely paid in full under protest
to the Town. An appeal can be undertaken only by filing a written
appeal with the Town Clerk. The written appeal shall specify all grounds
for challenge to the amount of the charge and shall state the amount
of charge that the appellant considers to be appropriate. Failure
to timely and properly appeal shall deprive the Town Administrator
and/or Town Board of jurisdiction to hear the appeal.
B.
Procedure for appeal. Any responsible party may dispute the amount
of the fee, or dispute any determination made by or on behalf of the
Town pursuant to and by the authority of this chapter. Such petitions
shall be requested in writing and filed with the Town Clerk within
30 days of the date of the property tax bill containing the disputed
transportation utility fee. The appeal must specify the basis for
the appeal and include a traffic study prepared by a traffic engineer
registered in the State of Wisconsin, and shall be limited to the
facts relating to the developed property improvements and area, trip-generation
rates, category of use and other factors material to the calculation
of the transportation utility fee. Failure to timely and properly
appeal shall deprive the Town Board and Circuit Court in certiorari
of jurisdiction to hear the appeal.
(1)
Town administrator/classification of property or calculation of fee.
The Town Administrator shall make determinations regarding adjustments
and shall hear and decide appeals where it is alleged that there is
an error in any order, decision or determination made pertaining to
the classification of the property or calculation of the transportation
utility fee. Reclassifications and appeals on the basis of alleged
errors in the determination of the fee as applied to a specific parcel
should be filed with a traffic study that, at a minimum, should be
conducted on a weekday and weekend day during the length of the day.
If the trip-generation rate is within 5% more or less, no adjustment
in the transportation utility fee shall be made because this is within
the expected margins for day-to-day variations. A downward adjustment
in the transportation utility fee shall be made by the Town Administrator
if the traffic count results in a trip-generation rate less than 95%
of the assigned trip-generation rate; however, no adjustment will
be made below the minimum paid by a single-family residence. An upward
adjustment in the transportation utility fee shall be made by the
Town Administrator if the traffic count results in a trip-generation
rate more than 105% of the assigned trip-generation rate. Any adjustment
shall take effect in the year following completion of the traffic
count and be reported in writing to the Town Administrator and Town
Board by the Town Administrator. Once a determination has been made
on a reclassification and/or fee, no additional request may be filed
for the same parcel unless there has been a significant change from
the prior determination. The decision of the Town Administrator is
final except if the property owner appeals the decision to the Town
Board by filing a written appeal with the Town Clerk no later than
30 calendar days after the date of mailing the decision of the Town
Administrator.
(2)
Town Board. The Town Board shall hear and decide appeals made on any basis other than an alleged error in the determination of the classification of the property or calculation of the transportation utility fee and shall hear appeals from determinations made by the Town Administrator under Subsection B(1) above.
(3)
An appeal may be taken within 30 days of any of the following events:
(4)
In considering an appeal, the Town Board shall determine whether
the transportation utility fee is fair and reasonable and, in the
event the appeal is granted, whether or not a refund is due the appellant
and the amount of the refund. The Board shall conduct a formal or
informal hearing at such time and place as designated in a hearing
notice to the appellant, providing at least five business days'
notice to the appellant. The Board shall obtain sufficient facts upon
which to make a determination, and the decision shall be based upon
the evidence presented. The Board shall notify the appellant in writing
of the determination by first class mail addressed to the individual
and at the address listed within the appeal.
(5)
The decision of the Town Board is final except if the property owner
appeals the decision to a court of competent jurisdiction. Such appeal
shall be filed no later than 30 calendar days after the date of mailing
the decision of the Board. Such appeal shall be by writ of certiorari,
and the reviewing court shall be limited solely to the record created
before the Board.
The Town Board may, by resolution, exempt any class of user
when it determines that the public interest deems it necessary and
that the contribution to street use by said class is insignificant.
Exceptions may be determined annually through Board action by resolution.
In the event any section, subsection, clause, phrase or portion
of this chapter is for any reason held illegal, invalid or unconstitutional
by any court of competent jurisdiction, such portion shall be deemed
a separate, distinct and independent provision, and such holding shall
not affect the validity of the remainder of this chapter. It is the
legislative intent of the Town Board that this chapter would have
been adopted if such illegal provision had not been included or any
illegal application had not been made.
