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KAYSVILLE — City officials say the roads in Kaysville need to be fixed, but they just don't have money in the budget.
They are considering charging a “road utility fee” to residents, businesses and even schools, but that isn’t sitting well with many in the community.
“You go down Main Street and it’s just like riding a horse and buggy,” Kaysville resident Dan Shumay said during a City Council meeting Thursday. He has lived in the area for 20 years and just bought new tires. He agrees the roads need to be fixed.
“You’re dodging potholes,” he said. “You’re looking for good road to ride on.”
Most everyone at the meeting agreed the city's roads need work, but they disagreed on how to get the funding to make that happen.
“We actually have a pretty lean budget here in Kaysville,” said Mayor Katie Witt. “Right now, we have $1.2 million (for road work). We probably need to be spending more around $3 million.”
In order to fill that funding gap, city officials are proposing a fee: Schools and churches would pay a road utility fee of $419 a month; businesses up to $3,000 a month and households up to $7.81 a month.
The idea didn't sit well with the majority of the people at Thursday's meeting.
“Utility road fee? I say no,” one resident said. Another asked, “Where does it stop? Are we going to have a police fee? Are we going to have a fire protection fee?”
A vote on the proposal could come as early as March, but the mayor said there's still much work to be done on the plan.
