City surveys this spring showed voters probably wouldn't approve any new taxes or fees. So Novick and Hales decided to have the City Council pass the fee without taking it to voters. Their proposal would allow voters to decide whether half the street fee should be reserved for maintenance and safety—but it still denies the public an up-or-down vote on the fee itself. "People want us to solve the problem, but none of the ways to solve the problem would pass," Novick said at a May 29 hearing. "And the problem would get worse and worse and worse.â