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Gibraltar Residents Respond to New Utility Bills

Employees at the Gibraltar town office in Fish Creek fielded numerous phone calls and in-person visits from residents inquiring about the traffic utility bills that recently arrived in their mailboxes.

The new utility, created by the town board in June, treats the town’s 58 miles of road as a utility and then charges town residents and businesses for their use. The first bills were sent out Sept. 22, causing the influx of questions from town residents.

Over the past year, four public meetings have been held to discuss the concept, and the town board discussed it during two public meetings this summer before adopting the utility in June. Those communication efforts did not reach all residents, however, and many were caught by surprise. 

The bill also wasn’t as descriptive as it could have been due to limitations in the programming software that the town is seeking to correct, according to Travis Thyssen, town administrator.

A notice on the town’s website apologized for the unclear description and reiterated that the fee would be billed semiannually, always in arrears. The current bill is for the January-June 2022 period. Bills moving forward will be sent in January and July. All collections may be used only for road repair, road reconstruction and road operations and vehicles. 

Thyssen cleared his calendar on Sept. 28 to be available to talk to those who had missed previous information about the fee and wanted to learn more about it.