Gresham Council Rethinking Road Tax Hike

GRESHAM, OR-The Gresham City Council pulled from a September agenda this week a proposal that would have nearly doubled the city’s transportation impact fee. The move occurred after developers and business owners apparently successfully argued that it would hurt the city’s ability to attract development and industry.

The transportation impact fee is a one-time charge assessed to new development based on the number of vehicle trips it generates during peak hours. The goal is to have the fees offset the infrastructure work that must be done to maintain and improve the roads to accommodate the ever increasing traffic load.

The need for the increase, says the city, is that the existing transportation impact fee hasn’t been increased since it was implemented in 1995, and therefore hasn’t kept up with growth. The city says it needs an estimated $45 million in street improvements to handle the estimated 20,000 additional vehicle trips that will join the crowd over the next 20 years.