The El Paso City Council on Monday was to hear a proposal from the city’s Capital Improvement Department to implement a monthly fee for residents and businesses citywide to create a dedicated fund for street repairs – a basic service city leaders for decades have struggled to adequately fund.
But the so-called transportation user fee was deleted from the agenda in a 5-3 vote without discussion or a presentation from city staffers who put the policy proposal together. The proposal wasn’t up for a vote, but the discussion was meant to be the first in a series of meetings and public presentations before a vote on whether to implement it took place in March.
The fee was pitched by city staffers as a way to create a dedicated revenue source specifically for road maintenance and repair, which City Manager Dionne Mack has consistently said is underfunded by tens of millions of dollars annually. The proposal included three fee scenarios: monthly fees on homeowners of $4.40, $7 or $11.37…