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Taxes Based on Estimated Road Impact Could be the Future

Posted by: Abhijeet Chavan
Thanks to: Nick Aster
6 October 2005 - 6:00am

Could taxing people on their anticipated road use be a more equitable way to pay for roads and related infrastructure? Would it reduce car dependancy in the long term?

A western Milwaukee suburb is considereing changing the way roads are funded by levying a tax based on estimated road impact, rather than property taxes.

"The fees charged to residential and various classes of commercial and business properties would be based on the average number of vehicle trips generated each day by those properties, as estimated by the Institute of Engineers' Trip Generation Manual... Properties are classified by how many vehicles could be expected to go to and from them in a typical day. Large supermarkets, for example, would be near the high end of that measure, while single-family homes would be near the bottom."

Is it truly a more equitable solution? Would it ultimately encourage businesses to support transit and walking oriented development because it would result in a lesser tax burden to them?

Full Story: Transportation utility proposal rolls forward
Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinal, October 6, 2005
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