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cities (Cities 7 and 8) use special assessments more aggressively and have <br />comparatively high assessment rates. <br />Property Tax Most cities within our sample use property taxes as a way to fund their road <br />projects. It is easily accessible although is inadequate to cover all road funding <br />costs, unless it is accessed at a high rate. <br />Bonds Bonds are a popular method to fund road infrastructure projects in our city pool. <br />Most cities used bonds as a supplemental, not primary, income source. <br />Other The most common other source that cities in our sample used were MSAS funds. <br />sources All of the cities in our sample were eligible to designate up to 20% of their roads <br />for MSAS funds. Other funding sources also included national grants, the Local <br />Road Improvement Fund, and Host Community Funds (fees for using a city's <br />street to access a landfill). <br />Funding Technique Pros and Cons: <br />Technique <br />Pros <br />Cons <br />Franchise Fees <br />Everyone, including tax exempt <br />organizations, pay for the roads <br />Considered regressive because everyone <br />pays the same amount, regardless of income <br />Stable and sustainable revenue source <br />Political feasibility can be difficult given the <br />political makeup of the council and <br />Because of the large tax base (renters, <br />homeowners, nonprofits, schools, etc.), the <br />franchise fee is often adequate to cover road <br />costs <br />community <br />The fee is predictable and can be kept low <br />for residents <br />Special <br />Assessment <br />Benefitting properties pay for larger share of <br />road costs <br />Hard change to the special assessment <br />formula from one year to the next because <br />people feel like it is not fair <br />Expensive for those assessed <br />Incurs interest debt <br />Burden placed on the city to prove that the <br />benefits of the project outway the costs; <br />leads to a costly legal process for cities <br />Property Tax <br />Reliable, major revenue source <br />Tax amount bears little to no correlation to <br />road usage <br />Taxes can be levied at people's ability to <br />pay, creating an equitable tax (equity <br />defined as those with higher income pay <br />more and vice versa) <br />Property tax flows to general fund and <br />general fund used to pay for roads; if <br />property tax is inadequate, other general <br />fund money is needed <br />Property tax rate can shift dramatically over <br />a short period, making it unreliable <br />