Milwaukee may add fee to food delivery apps to help pay for roads, public transportation

Milwaukee may add fee to food delivery apps to help pay for roads, public transportation

A few weeks ago, Milwaukee restauranteurs blasted food delivery companies like Grubhub, Postmates, and DoorDash for adding their businesses without their permission. Now, according to an upcoming Public Works Committee agenda, a proposed ordinance would add a $0.60 service fee to all deliveries made by such companies. The fee, which would be imposed on the consumer and eventually remitted to the city by the company, would be used “for street maintenance and to supplement non-rail-based public transportation within the city.” Sorry, The Hop!

“The purpose of this section is to provide the department of public works sufficient resources to maintain public streets and to reduce added wear and tear on public streets arising from the proliferation of on-demand food delivery services,” reads the proposal, which is sponsored by Alderwoman Nikiya Dodd. “This will be accomplished by applying funds generated from a food delivery network service fee to street maintenance and increasing access to public transportation.”

The proposal is set to be discussed at the next Public Works Committee meeting, January 8 at 9 a.m. We’ve reached out to Ald. Dodd for further comment.

The full text of the proposal is below. Also, here’s a link to the time we ordered McDonald’s via UberEats and everyone got mad at us.