The City's Transportation Fee (sometimes known as a transportation utility fee or TUF) is a recurring monthly fee to be used for operations and maintenance of the City transportation system, which may include pavement restoration, street preservation, signs, striping, sidewalk and other concrete work, bicycle and multi-modal system enhancement, street sweeping and cleaning, winters operations such as snow removal and implementation of programs identified in the Transportation System Plan.  

Everyone relies on the transportation system (e.g., mail delivery, garbage hauling services, food delivery, bus routes, walking, biking, and driving to work, school, and services, etc.). Transportation Fees are a commonly used tool around the State of Oregon; most often for the maintenance and repair of a city’s transportation system. A Transportation Fee provides a stable source of revenue to support our transportation system, allowing for safe and efficient movement of people, goods, and services. 

The Transportation Fee is collected through the customer’s regular utility bill. The fee is a charge, like your monthly sewer charge, to ensure users of the road system share the costs of maintenance needed to keep the street system operating at an adequate level. 

We all rely on our transportation system to go about our daily lives. A connected, well-maintained transportation system allows people—and the goods and services we depend on—to move around safely and efficiently. Our transportation system is a public investment that needs regular maintenance to ensure mobility, public safety, economic activity and quality of life. 

In the past, the City has relied on revenues from the State Gas Tax and a portion of property taxes to maintain the City’s street system, but these funding sources are limited and declining over time for several reasons. 

Gas Tax Limitations. The amount available from state gas tax revenues, which is governed by state law, for street maintenance continues to decrease while the wear and tear on our roads increases as we grow. Increased fuel efficiency and growth of electric vehicles (which don’t consume taxable fuels) have led to less fuel consumption, but does not reduce impact to the road system. And even though fuel costs have increased, gas tax receipts are based on a per-gallon calculation (not per dollar). The City does not have a local gas tax. A local gas tax would require a public vote. Bend voters rejected a gas tax when one was proposed on the ballot in 2016.  

Property Tax Limitations. In the past, a small portion of the City’s General Fund has been used toward much-needed street preservation activities; however, these have been discretionary, one-time investments. Property taxes are the biggest source of revenue for the General Fund, which primarily pays for public safety needs. Property tax rates and increases to property assessed values are limited by state law (Measures 5 & 50), and Bend has one of the lowest property tax rates in the state, which cannot be raised. Because of these legislative restrictions on property taxes, many jurisdictions in Oregon need to seek levies, bonds, or other revenue sources to help fill funding gaps.  

Limited funding, a growing transportation system, and cost escalation have resulted in an increasing backlog of maintenance needs. The City can no longer rely on declining and discretionary funds to maintain its transportation network. 

The City needed to come up with its own sustainable revenue source to meet our local needs. In 2019, the Citywide Transportation Advisory Committee’s (CTAC) Funding Work Group recommended a Transportation Fee as a preferred funding option to help protect the City's street infrastructure investment. A Transportation Fee was also recommended as a funding tool by City Council advisory committees in 2009 and 2011.

No, under Oregon law, a Transportation Fee is not a tax. A tax is an amount or rate charged generally to everyone to pay for a variety of governmental functions, whereas a fee is charged to users of a government service to pay for that specific service. A Transportation Fee treats the transportation system like a utility by charging residents and businesses a share of transportation system costs. The Transportation Fee provides a stable source of revenue to pay for street maintenance and other planned transportation programs, allowing for safe and efficient movement of people, goods and services for the community. The street system is a public investment that deserves protection and cost-effective regular maintenance. The Transportation Fee revenues can be spent only on the service provided -- the street and transportation system. The money collected from the fee will not be available for other government services or functions. 

The Transportation Fee was a funding option preferred by the Funding Work Group, a subset of the Citywide Transportation Advisory Committee (CTAC), during the 2020 Transportation System Plan update. The Funding Work Group, made up of nine community representatives, looked at many different funding options based on factors such as equity, efficiency, and impact. Following these discussions, the Transportation Fee received broad support. 

The City Council will set the fee amounts and decide how the fee is spent in each two-year budget. The budget adoption process is a public process and includes a community advisory committee. The Transportation Fee will be used to enhance the entire transportation system through better operations and maintenance and through implementing programs recommended through a broad community engagement process during the update to the Transportation System Plan.

The adopting ordinance outlines accountability measures to build transparency and public trust, including reporting on how Transportation Fee dollars are spent within the overall budget. You can learn more in the first annual report.

Phase 3 has been paused indefinitely as Council discusses other revenue sources to fund the ongoing transportation needs. This was discussed and determined at the September 10, 2025 Council Meeting.

The basis of the Transportation Fee is on a household or business' impact to the transportation system.  Utility accounts within City limits are charged the Transportation Fee with rates assigned based on account type (single family residential, multi-family residential, or commercial).

In Phase 2, single-unit utility bill accounts pay $10.50/month. Households that qualify for Utility Billing Assistance pay $5.25/month. Multi-unit attached housing (like an apartment) accounts pay $7.75/month (per unit).

Most businesses will be charged based on building size and business type, with rates ranging from $6.25 to $20.50 per 1,000 square feet per month, depending on the intensity of use.

The fee is collected from households and businesses through utility bills similar to your monthly sewer charge. Short term rental license holders are charged with their annual license renewals.

More detail on the current Transportation Fee rates can be found in the fee schedule.

The Transportation Fee is being implemented in phases, through fee resolutions adopted by City Council. We are currently in Phase 2 of the fee, which is intended to raise $10 million in fiscal year 2025-2026. The Transportation Fee generates approximately 56% of its revenue from residential accounts and 44% from non-residential accounts. This allocation differs slightly from initial estimates, which were based on trip generation estimates for broad customer categories using land use information available primarily through the Bend-Redmond Travel Demand Model. Factors including improved data accuracy, residential account growth, and City Council direction resulted in a slight shift from the estimated to actual revenue generation allocation.

Review the technical memorandum summarizing the analysis used to establish Transportation Fee rates for Phase 2.

The person responsible for the Transportation Fee (typically the utility account holder) may file a Transportation Fee Appeal, to review whether the amount charged is correct. 

An appeal or review may be conducted based on: 

1. Incorrect customer class assignment (residential instead of business, etc.),
2. Incorrect bin assignment (for example: Bin 4 instead of Bin 2, based on business use, or business is in Central Business District or Old Mill District but qualifies for a lesser bin rate based on business use),
3. If there is an error in the square footage calculation for nonresidential accounts,
4. If the non-residential property is temporarily unoccupied (thus qualifying for the Bin 1 rate, rather than a higher rate), or
5. The parcel exists in its natural unimproved condition and is not connected to the City’s stormwater, sewer, or water system. 

The Short-Term Rental Supplement is a Transportation Fee that is added to the initial application and annual renewals of Short-Term Rental Licenses. This supplemental fee accounts for the additional impact that tourist accommodations have on the transportation system. The adopted rate schedule, including the details on these fees, can be found here: Transportation Fee Phase 2 Rate Schedule.
Note that the residential fee applies to all residential units in Bend, and the Short-Term Rental Supplement accounts for the additional use of the transportation system from the overnight-accommodation use in the residential unit.

Industry data sources provide estimates of the number of trips generated by different types of dwellings (e.g., single-family detached homes vs. multi-family attached housing like apartments) on average. Charging a uniform rate per dwelling unit by type of unit based on these averages is consistent with industry standard practice and helps minimize administrative costs because the information is readily available and easy to monitor. Based on data from the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) Trip Generation Manual, multi-family households generate fewer trips on the system overall - about 70 percent of the impact on the road system as compared to single-family households.  

Each account’s charge is based on the building square footage and a rate per 1,000 square feet based on estimates of transportation impact by use type, grouped into “Bins” or rate categories. Intensity of use is generally measured by the average number of trips per day frequenting that type of business, per 1,000 square feet of building space, based on data from the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) Trip Generation Manual. This means that non-residential uses that generate more trips on the transportation network pay more than those that don’t tend to generate as many trips.

All accounts, whether a property is inhabited temporarily, intermittently, or permanently will be charged the Transportation Fee, excluding those in which the parcel exists in a natural, unimproved condition and is not connected to the City’s stormwater, sewer, or water system. If demolition has occurred on the property, please contact the Billing Team to review your account.

However, temporarily unoccupied non-residential properties will be charged at the Bin 1 rate until the property is occupied and registered. To receive this classification, customers should submit an appeal form to notify the City that the property is temporarily unoccupied to be eligible for this rate. 

There are mechanisms in place for the Transportation Fee to account for visitor use on our system. Typically, Transportation Fees are based on traffic impact generated by specific types of development, using data from the Institute of Transportation Engineers Manual. Different types of development vary in their demand on transportation infrastructure, with some creating more wear and tear than others. For instance, visitors who stay in hotels and short-term rentals account for a portion of trips on the transportation network, which is accounted for in how Transportation Fees for lodging accommodations, including short-term rentals, are set. In this way, the Transportation Fee provides a method for visitors to help fund maintenance of the roads they are using while visiting. 

The most direct way to assess visitors is through a lodging tax. State law governs how transient room taxes (which includes hotels, motels, and similar facilities) can be used. Currently, anyone staying in a Bend hotel, vacation rental or other short-term lodging pays a 10.4% Transient Room Tax (TRT). Of the revenue generated, 65% goes to the City's General Fund (which supports public safety and other core services) and 35% is required by state law to be used for tourism promotion including marketing and tourism-related facilities. 

An increase to the Transient Room Tax (TRT) is not a preferred funding method, as under state law, the City would only get 30% of that revenue; 70% of revenue from any increase in the Transient Room Tax (TRT) must be used to fund tourism promotion or pay for tourism-related facilities. 

The Funding Work Group recommended additional funding tools that may be considered in the future. Some of those tools, such as a seasonal fuel tax and targeted food and beverage tax, would allow visitors to help fund the City's transportation needs. 

In 2016, the City proposed a fuel tax to capture the impact of vehicles and visitors on the City’s transportation system. The community voted to not pass the tax at that time.