Road Funding

In February 2018, the Town started evaluating the funding needs and options available for cost recovery related to the Town’s transportation system reconstruction and maintenance. The primary issue facing the Town is the cost of maintaining and reconstructing the 46-mile transportation system residents and visitors rely on daily has continued to increase, while the overall funding for these activities has not increased at a commensurate rate. At the same time, the Town has widespread stormwater drainage issues in the urbanized area of the Town.  

As part of this discussion a study was undertaken to review the current state and different funding options available to address the ongoing local transportation needs for the community, see Transportation System Financing Report for additional details. The report was an effort to provide a framework to align future Town activities with the Town of Buchanan Comprehensive Plan 2040 objective to “provide a well-maintained transportation network.”

The general objectives of the study were three-fold: (1) Ensure reliable and ongoing funding for the Town’s transportation system; (2) Recover transportation system related costs in a manner that is equitable to all users; and (3) Maintain fiscal discipline by being prudent stewards of all revenue sources.

 The study found the following:

• Continued debt issuances at levels in the millions of dollars will put the Town out of compliance with the Debt Policy.
  • “Total annual debt service payments on tax-supported debt of the Town will not    exceed 25% of total general gov’t operating revenue.”
• Road Conditions are continuing to deteriorate and age as seen by the PASER rating and road surface ages, respectively. PASER ratings will be updated in 2021.
• Drainage concerns are widespread in the urbanized area of Town.

In order to meet the Annual Transportation Investment benchmark—$2,500,000 per year to reconstruct the transportation system in 35 years—all financial tools were reviewed. The only viable options available, in addition to what the Town currently collects, was a transportation utility fee and/or special assessments.

Simultaneously, a Drainage and Roadway Preliminary Engineering Study was conducted to identify drainage issues, schedule roadway and drainage improvements for the next 10 years for roadways in PASER Rating areas equal to or less than a 5 rating and a 10-year maintenance plan for roadways in PASER Rating areas equal to or greater than a 5 to maximize the lifespan of the road.

Based on these two studies, a host of discussions and public information meetings, the Town Board approved a 2024 - 10 Year CIP Plan with PASERs and sustainable funding for the Plan. The Plan calls for reconstruction or maintenance of approximately 23 miles over the length of the Plan.

For the funding, there will be two additional sources directly impacting property owners.  First, a special assessment is a charge levied by a local government on real property to offset the cost of a capital improvement that directly benefits the property. A special assessment will be different based on the project, in 2022 the special assessment was $4084.46. This is a one-time charge when the Town is reconstructing a road.

The other funding source is a transportation utility fee. Similar to a water or sewer utility, a transportation utility recovers a specific set of operating and/or capital costs by charging a fee to users. The transportation utility fee has two components, a base fee and a trip generation fee. The former is based on the percentage of equalized value in the community,.i.e., residential and non-residential. Whereas the latter is based on a weighted average trip generation rate by land use utilizing data collected by an industry accepted source, the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) Trip Generation Manual.  In 2022 the transportation utility fee for single family properties will be $315.29. For non-residential properties, it ranges from $189 to $8,400.  This is an annual fee that will be included on property tax bills.

By meeting the Annual Transportation Investment Benchmark, the Town is in a position to maintain and reconstruct the transportation system in a fair and equitable manner. The Town would like to thank residents who voted in the advisory referendum and participated in the public information meetings on this topic.

Related Studies/Policy

• Drainage and Roadway Preliminary Engineering Study
• Transportation System Financing Approach Report 
• Special Assessment Policy

• Map of Road Projects West of CTH N
• Map of Road Projects East of CTH N

Transportation Utility FAQs

Road Improvement FAQs

Project Contact Information:

Town Engineer

Cedar Corporation
1695 Bellevue Street, Green Bay, WI 54311
Office: 920-491-9081