permits increase to pay for road improvements

Question

Where is the tensed verb and what kind of verb is it?

Passive transitive

Active transitive

Linking

intransitive

Answer 1

I would look down into the article to be sure I was understanding this confusingly written headline, but if this is all you’re given, the obvious tense is on the word that’s most clearly a verb, “to pay.” It could be an infinitive only if “increase” were the verb, in present tense, but “pay” is still the most active verb with the most connection to the final clause (there’s a clue about the other questions). Try to make sense of the sentence any other way. If “permits,” present tense, were the verb, there’s no subject. If “increase” were the verb, you need to know more about what it might be about permits that would pay for anything by increasing, or are they increasing in number?