Eugene city councilors are knee-deep in the process of putting together an $81 million tax measure that would fund road repair and street maintenance, but with voters’ recent defeat of a fuel tax increase, city officials can’t agree on whether the time is right to ask citizens for money again.
The tax measure is expected to raise $6.5 million per year through property taxes, and the owner of a median-value home could expect to pay $109 annually for the next 10 years.
Even though students may not own property, they are still indirectly affected, said Eric Jones, the city’s Public Works spokesman. Landlords could pass off property taxes to tenants by increasing rents, he said.
Councilors are undecided on when to present the tax to voters. They can either put the tax measure on the May 20 primary election ballot, or save it until the November general election. The council majority has been pushing for the former, but two city councilors, Mike Clark and George Poling, want to wait until November.
“I don’t think the general public will OK this until they see some fiscal responsibility from us,” Clark said. “We have to stop the problem we have from getting any worse with the money we already have.”
The estimated $170 million backlog of street work that city officials have said could grow to more than $280 million within the next 10 years if current funding levels remain the same.
The recently defeated city fuel tax increase of 3 cents per gallon was one part of a plan to fix the city’s roads. But Clark feels the city needs to build some goodwill with the public before asking for more money. Under the plan, the city would take out a long-term bond and repay it with property tax revenues.
“Using the bond as a tool is OK with me as an appropriate tool, but we have to use it at the right time,” Clark said.
His plan would work on the city’s budget and “re-prioritize” general fund money “toward the operation and maintenance deficit” before offering the idea of a long-term bond to voters, he said.
The budgeting process begins in April, and the budget is passed in early June. Once the council and Mayor Kitty Piercy have shown they can act responsibly with the money they have during that budgeting process, Clark said he feels voters would be more likely to pass the tax in the November general election.
Last year, a transportation subcommittee determined the level of funding the city would need in order to stop the backlog from growing larger. The group found that an annual revenue of $27 million would completely eliminate the preservation backlog within 10 years, and $18 million per year would at least stabilize the problem – $13 to $14 million more than the city currently brings in each year, according to the report.
Without the money from this plan, city officials fear the neglected roads throughout the city will continue to worsen.
If voters do not approve the tax measure then “the backlog will continue to grow, and the streets will continue to worsen,” Jones said.
In addition to the rejected fuel tax increase, the plan also includes the proposed property tax, a tax on businesses and homes based on the number of parking spaces, and a street and bike path lighting fee, which would also be charged on homes and businesses.
City councilors will meet again on Jan. 28 to determine how the bond would be structured, whether $81 million is the appropriate amount needed to fund street maintenance and when to present the tax to voters.
“I’m hopeful that (the tax measure) does pass,” Clark said. “But I have real concerns about whether or not it can pass and whether or not people will have enough trust in our solution if we don’t re-prioritize our spending a little.”
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