[HISTORY: Adopted by the Common Council of the City of Watertown 8-3-2021 by Ord. No. 21-30. Amendments noted where applicable.]
A. 
Timely maintenance, construction and reconstruction of the City's transportation system ensures safe and efficient travel throughout the City. A sound transportation system enhances livability, property values and economic vitality. A transportation utility provides a sustainable source of funds for the maintenance, construction and reconstruction of transportation infrastructure under the jurisdiction of the City of Watertown.
B. 
The Common Council reviewed funding options for transportation system funding, including a Transportation Utility, during 2021 and determined that establishment of a Transportation Utility with fees based on trips generated by property uses is the most appropriate method to provide the necessary funds. The Common Council further concluded that a Transportation Utility is the most equitable means to apportion the cost of transportation system improvements as it requires those who make the greatest use of the City transportation system the most responsible for the cost of said system.
C. 
In creating this chapter, the City is acting pursuant to authority granted by Chapters 62 and 66 of the Wisconsin Statutes, including but not limited to §§ 62.11 and 66.0621.
D. 
The Common Council shall review the Transportation Utility at least every five years to evaluate the success of the activities funded and the appropriateness of the rate structure. The first review shall occur by or before June 30, 2026.
As used in this chapter, the following terms, phrases, words and their derivatives shall have the meaning given herein:
DEVELOPED PARCEL
A parcel or 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, outside storage, and other uses that impact the transportation system.
DEVELOPED USE
The use of a parcel based on how the owner or occupant(s) uses the improvements on the parcel.
DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC WORKS/CITY ENGINEER
The person appointed by the Common Council to oversee the various public works operations, or his or her designee.
GROSS SQUARE FOOTAGE
The area of all structures located on a site, measured along the exterior walls of such structures, and including but not limited to enclosed courtyards and stairwells, but not including fences and parking areas which are not enclosed within a building.
ITE MANUAL
International Traffic Engineer's Manual, 10th Edition September 2017, published by the Institute of Transportation Engineers as may be amended from time to time.
TRIP
A single one direction person or vehicle movement with either the origin or destination inside a study area. A trip has an origin and a destination at its respective ends.
TRIP GENERATION RATE
The number of vehicle trips on an average weekday, as determined by reference to the ITE Manual.
UNDEVELOPED PROPERTY
An unimproved property, having no assessed improvements or built infrastructure.
UTILITY ACCOUNT
The entity to which the transportation user fee will be charged.
UTILITY ACCOUNT CUSTOMER
The entity in whose name a water, sanitary sewer, solid waste and/or stormwater account exists and who is responsible for payment of charges for said account.
VACANT
A residential building that is not occupied by any inhabitants; or a commercial building that is unoccupied and/or unused continuously for at least three months.
A. 
Revenue generated by the Transportation Utility shall be used only for the following:
(1) 
Related administration costs;
(2) 
Pavement preservation activities (grind/inlay, slurry seal, crack seal, chip seal, or other generally accepted means of maintenance);
(3) 
Pavement rehabilitation activities (mill/overlay, pulverize/repave, overlay, or other generally accepted means of maintenance);
(4) 
Street construction and/or reconstruction activities on City streets;
(5) 
Sidewalk maintenance, construction or reconstruction;
(6) 
Streetlighting and appurtenances;
(7) 
Traffic control and signalization maintenance, construction or reconstruction;
(8) 
Pedestrian facilities; and/or
(9) 
Structures used for the storage, maintenance and repair of operational equipment.
B. 
All fees collected pursuant to this chapter shall be deposited in the City's Transportation Utility Fund.
C. 
The cost of initial construction of local streets within City right-of-way in new subdivisions constructed after the effective date of this chapter, or streets funded by a developer pursuant to a developer's agreement approved by the Common Council shall not be funded from the Transportation Utility Fund.
A. 
Every developed property shall pay a transportation user fee.
B. 
The fee shall be based on the developed property's direct and indirect uses of, or benefits derived from the use of the transportation system.
C. 
The fee imposed under this chapter shall become due and payable from and after the effective date of this chapter, and for property developed after the effective date of this chapter, from and after the date the property becomes developed.
D. 
The transportation user fee imposed under Subsection A of this section may be paid by the owner, occupant, business or anyone designated by the owner; however, if the transportation user fee is not paid promptly, when due, the City shall proceed to collect such charges from the utility account customer in any manner provided by law, or seek imposition of the charges on the property tax bill for the benefitted property through Jefferson and Dodge County.
E. 
The fee imposed under this chapter shall begin with utility bills issued on or after the effective date of the adoption of this chapter.
A. 
The following shall not be subject to the transportation user fee:
(1) 
Parking lots, which are not associated with any services or uses other than parking.
(2) 
Undeveloped publicly owned parkland, open spaces, and greenways, unless public off-street parking designed to accommodate the use of such areas is provided.
(3) 
Undeveloped properties.
B. 
Additionally, the Common Council may, by resolution, exempt any class of user when it determines the public interest deems it necessary and that the contribution to street use by said class is insignificant. Exemptions may be determined annually through Council action by resolution.
A. 
The transportation user fee shall be comprised of a base fee and a usage fee:
(1) 
Base fee: a fee that is equal for all utility accounts that recognizes that each utility account is receiving a uniform benefit of access to the transportation system and includes administrative costs and those fixed capital, operating and maintenance costs of the transportation system that are not recoverable by the usage fee or other confirmed revenue source. The base fee is determined by dividing the total amount of fixed base costs by the total number of utility accounts.
(2) 
Usage fee: a fee on each utility account that is determined by multiplying the number of trips assigned to the utility account by the per-trip rate. The per-trip rate is determined by dividing the target budget (not including the fixed base costs budget) by the total number of trips generated by all utility accounts. The number of trips assigned to each utility account is calculated using land use trip generation rates from the ITE Manual as amended multiplied by a scale factor and adjusted where appropriate by a deduction factor (i.e., seasonal land uses, K-12 school year, seasonal park properties, direct state or county road access and partial state or county road access).
B. 
The base fee and per-trip rate shall be in an amount set forth from time to time by resolution of the Common Council. Staff shall present the Common Council with a draft resolution proposing an adjustment based on the proposed transportation system improvements budget for the projected improvement program time frame. Any adjustment of the charge shall be effective on the date determined in the resolution.
C. 
For each utility account, the Director of Public Works/City Engineer shall determine the category of use from the ITE Manual that shall apply to each developed utility account within the City. In the absence of a specific use category from within the ITE Manual for a particular developed use, the Director of Public Works/City Engineer shall determine the appropriate category by interpreting the ITE Manual and assigning the category which most accurately reflects the traffic generated by the particular developed use. After determining the appropriate use category for a developed parcel, the Director of Public Works/City Engineer shall use the trip generation figures for the assigned use category from the ITE Manual to calculate the usage fee using the per-trip rate in the most current resolution. The Director of Public Works/City Engineer may require and consider the results of a traffic study, provided that such study shall be conducted by a registered professional engineer in conformance with the methodology outlined in the WisDOT Bureau of Traffic Operations Traffic Impact Analysis Guidelines, latest edition, Chapter 3, part B, titled "Traffic Volumes." The determination of a use category shall not be considered a land use decision for the purpose of land use planning.
D. 
If the use of a property changes such that its impact on the transportation systems either increases or decreases, the person responsible for the property must notify the Director of Public Works/City Engineer within 30 days to obtain a new determination regarding the transportation user fee for that property. The request shall be made on forms provided by the City that the property owner will need to complete and submit with information pertinent to the request. The new fee will be applied with the next City services billing. If the utility account customer neglects to notify the City, and the change would result in a lower monthly transportation user fee, no refund will be made for the time between when the change was made and when the City became aware of the change. If the change would result in a higher monthly transportation user fee, the City will calculate the amount owed back to the time the change was made and apply that to the next City services billing.
A. 
The transportation user fee shall be billed and collected monthly with and as part of the combined City utility billing which includes water, wastewater, solid waste and stormwater fees.
B. 
In the event payments received from the City's billings, described in Subsection A of this section, are inadequate to satisfy in full all of the water, sanitary sewer, solid waste, stormwater and transportation user fees, credit shall be given first to penalty fees and interest, and then divided evenly between the funds.
C. 
If the transportation user fee is not paid when due, the City shall proceed to collect such charges in any manner provided by law, or seek imposition of the charges in the property tax bill for the benefitted property through Jefferson and Dodge County.
[Amended 7-5-2022 by Ord. No. 22-63]
A. 
When any property within the City becomes vacant, a waiver of the usage fee may be granted if the utility account customer notifies the City Clerk in writing 30 days prior to the anticipated date of vacancy. All outstanding water, sanitary sewer, stormwater and transportation user fee charges must be paid before a waiver will be granted. The minimum vacancy to qualify for a usage fee reduction shall be three months. No waiver will be granted for the base fee.
B. 
Fees shall be waived in accordance with this section only while the property remains vacant. The person responsible shall notify the City Clerk within five days of the premises being reoccupied, partially occupied or used, regardless of whether water service is restored.
A. 
Any utility account customer account may appeal the usage fee by filing a written appeal to the City Clerk. The written appeal shall specify the grounds for challenge to the amount of the fee and shall state the amount of fee that the appellant considers to be appropriate.
[Amended 7-5-2022 by Ord. No. 22-63]
B. 
Such petition shall be made in writing and be filed with the City Clerk within 30 days of the date on the utility bill.
[Amended 7-5-2022 by Ord. No. 22-63]
C. 
The appeal must specify the basis for the appeal and may include a traffic study prepared as noted in § 482-6 above, and shall be limited to the facts related to the developed property improvements, trip generation rates, category of use and other factors material to the calculation of the usage fee.
D. 
The Director of Public Works/City Engineer shall review the petition and make a determination if there is an error in any order, decision or determination made pertaining to the classification of the property or calculation of the usage fee. If the trip generation rate is within 10% of the rate used to generate the usage fee, no adjustments in the usage fee shall be made because this is within the expected margin for day-to-day variations. 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 material change from the prior determination. The decision of the Director of Public Works/City Engineer shall be provided in writing to the applicant. A utility account customer may appeal the decision of the Director of Public Works/City Engineer to the Public Works Commission for a recommendation to the Common Council. The appeal must be filed in writing to the City Clerk within 30 calendar days from the date that the decision of the Director of Public Works/City Engineer was mailed to the utility account customer.
[Amended 7-5-2022 by Ord. No. 22-63]
E. 
The Common Council, upon the review and recommendation of the Public Works Commission, shall hear and decide appeals made on the basis other than an alleged error in the determination of the classification of the property or calculation of the transportation user fee. The Common Council shall determine whether the transportation user fee is fair and reasonable in accordance with the terms of this ordinance and, in the event the appeal is granted, whether or not a refund is due the appellant and the amount of the refund. The Common Council shall conduct a hearing and provide notice to the appellant at least five business days prior to the hearing. The Common Council shall obtain sufficient facts upon which to make a determination, and the decision shall be based upon the evidence presented.
Upon presentation of credentials, a representative of the City shall have the right to request entry at any reasonable time to examine any property for purposes of conducting any studies or collecting information bearing upon the determination of the appropriate use category or transportation user fee in accordance with this chapter. If entry is refused, such representative may obtain a special inspection warrant under Wis. Stats. § 66.0119, however if such access is not permitted by the property owner or occupant the existing fee shall be presumed correct unless substantial material evidence is presented to the contrary.
If any provision, paragraph, word, section, or article of this chapter is invalidated by any court of competent jurisdiction, the remaining provisions, paragraphs, words, sections and chapters shall not be affected and shall continue in full force and effect.