The City wishes to make an amendment to the long-term street repair funding solution, franchise fee, which is used exclusively to fund annual street repair projects. A franchise fee was implemented in January 2018 on our gas and utility companies as a long-term funding solution to cover annual costs related to city street maintenance and improvements.The fee is used exclusively to fund annual street repair projects and to invest in our street infrastructure.
Over the past year, City Council has had significant discussions about our street repair program and the desire to do more. With our current funding levels, we’ve quickly found that we are unable to “catch up” with our street repair needs and meet the demands of our property owners. This led to a discussion about how to do more and it quickly became a financial discussion. The amendment to the franchise fee would double the amount collected and effectively double the amount of street repair completed each year.
For more details on franchise fees and the proposed amendment, please visit www.cityvadnaisheights.com/franchisefee.