The Urbana City Council convened Monday night after a two week break. But one of the biggest topics, a two-cent local motor fuel tax increase, was brought to discussion in a study session prior to the meeting of the city council.

Mayor Laurel Prussing believes the fuel tax, which has not changed in 20 years, is a solution to the disparity between the funds and cost of maintaining Urbana roads.

“We’ve had roads for way longer than we’ve had motor vehicles — the tax system always has to adjust to what is going on,” Prussing said. “It’s not always made in advance.”

The council asked for alternative options, such as exploring federal programs, to be explored, but Prussing argued that the tax is seen as a reasonable way to increase revenue in the short run, and that those options could not benefit the community at this time.

Prussing presented data showing that it would actually cost residents less to just pay the two-cent increase than to drive to Champaign for cheaper fuel.

However, Alderman Heather Stevenson stood in opposition to the tax, arguing that it could affect which city residents go to for general shopping needs and where they buy their gas while shopping.

Assistant City Engineer Gale Jamison said, although the revenue would not be seen for a few years, the city is in strong need of revenue to support road maintenance. Jamison also said that a fuel tax is the only approach they have begun considering.

According to the Capital Improvement Plan for Urbana, city income falls short of the expenditures for road maintenance, which will push the budget into increasingly negative numbers over the next few years.

Constituents were invited to speak against the fuel tax. However, Urbana residents at the meeting were more concerned with an ordinance passed three weeks ago limiting the berth of recreational fires, as well as an ordinance that may declare the Lincoln Hotel, 209 South Broadway Ave., a historical landmark.