Albany staff outline options for a transportation/maintenance fee; council signals support to proceed

City staff and consultants briefed the Albany City Council April 7 on technical approaches to implementing a street maintenance fee and sought policy direction to continue rate modeling.

Assistant City Engineer Rob Emmons and consultant Deb Gallardi explained the project steps: case-study research, customer-data development, scenario modeling, sample bills and implementation planning. They said the ordinance authorizing the fee was passed by council in September, and staff work since then has focused on rate design and data preparation.

What staff proposed

Deb Gallardi summarized common practices from other Oregon cities: residential charges are generally uniform for single-family homes with a lower rate (or modifier) for multi‑unit dwellings; low‑income discounts are common; and nonresidential users are typically grouped into 3–7 "bins" (rate classes) based on trip-generation characteristics and square footage. Sample monthly residential fees in other cities range roughly from $6 to more than $16 per month for a single-family account, Gallardi said.

For nonresidential customers, Gallardi described technical options:

- Rate classes (bins) based on land use and trip generation; charge by square footage where appropriate. - Caps or minimum charges to limit very high bills for large/high-trip generators. - Policy choices that shift a greater or lesser share of costs between residential and nonresidential customers.

Equity measures such as low-income discounts and appeals processes were discussed as standard practice in other jurisdictions.

Council discussion and concerns

Councilors pressed staff on truck traffic and high-impact users (examples named included solid-waste haulers and driving schools). Gallardi said truck-specific surcharges have been used but can complicate administration, and the available technical data to define truck impacts across all land-use categories are limited. She said staff will return with options including potential surcharges or caps.

Councilor Smith urged that local (neighborhood) streets be prioritized, saying, “the bulk of the projects that need to be done need to be on the local streets and it needs to be paid for by local street users,” and Councilor Manning said the bin approach for nonresidential customers “makes sense” if it is equitable.

Next steps and timing

Staff asked for a preliminary council straw poll to confirm the residential/nonresidential framework; councilors indicated the approach was acceptable, enabling staff to complete the data crunching and bring rate scenarios back to council. Staff said they expect to return with the next iteration and modeled fee scenarios in early June and will present further details for council consideration.

Sources: Presentation to Albany City Council by City of Albany public works staff and consultant Deb Gallardi on April 7, 2025.