TOWN OF BUCHANAN — The Wisconsin Supreme Court today struck down the town of Buchanan’s transportation utility.
In a unanimous vote, justices agreed that the fee constituted an unlawful tax. Read the decision HERE.
The conservative law firm Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty, or WILL, sued the town in 2021 claiming that the fee was “an unlawful tax” that violates state levy limits and the uniformity clause of the Wisconsin Constitution.
The ruling could have a major impact throughout the state for communities that either have a transportation utility or are considering one.
Neenah currently imposes the fee while Appleton has considered it.
Outagamie County Circuit Court Judge Mark McGinnis earlier struck down the fee, holding that the fee violates strict levy limits imposed on counties and municipalities in state law.
Town of Buchanan voters adopted the fee in late 2019 to generate revenue to pay for its roads.
The “transportation utility fee” is charged to “all developed properties” and is used to fund “the cost of utility district highways, stormwater management, sidewalks, street lighting, traffic control” and “any other convenience or public improvement,” is how the fee was described.
WILL argued this fee – despite its name – is really an unlawful tax.
According to the Wisconsin Department of Revenue, Buchanan was at its levy limit of $2.4 million the year before the lawsuit was filed. They used this additional tax to levy $850,000 more from taxpayers — homeowners pay $315 annually and businesses and other properties pay between $200 and $8,000.
The fee is increasingly being considered by communities across the state to address growing shortfalls in road maintenance that can’t be covered by general property taxes.
