Bond may pave way to street fixes

Spokane city voters this November will get a chance to say whether they want to raise their property taxes to pay for $117.3 million in street repairs over the next 10 years.

The City Council on Tuesday voted 6-1 in favor of placing a street bond measure on the Nov. 2 general election ballot. It will take a 60 percent yes vote to pass.

Under the proposal, nearly 110 miles of city streets would be repaired, including 37 miles of arterials and 52 miles of residential streets. In addition, bond issue money would be used to subsidize neighborhoods that form local improvement districts to pave their own gravel streets.

Work would be spaced out over 10 years. Financing would come from four separate bond issues over three years. Bond repayment would run for 20 years.

The annual cost to property owners is estimated at 68 cents on $1,000 of assessed valuation, or $68 a year on a $100,000 home with the cost declining as assessed values citywide increase.

Councilman Brad Stark said the amount for the average homeowner is the equivalent of a large hamburger once a month.

The issue has become a centerpiece of Mayor Jim West’s first year in office. He appointed a Citizens Streets Advisory Committee in April to come up with a proposal, and then took the plan to a series of community forums held last month.

Based on support he heard at those meetings, the mayor decided to ask the council to put the issue before voters this fall rather than wait until early next year for a vote. He said in an interview he believes there is strong support for a streets measure today, even though a $50 million bond proposal in 2002 gained only a 44-percent yes vote.

City engineers in the past have said it would take at least $200 million to fix all of the city’s broken streets.

West told the council this year’s bond issue is only the first step in catching up with the city’s street repair backlog. “We have no choice. We need to move forward. Now is the time,” he said.

Another street repair plan would be needed after work under the new proposal is completed, West said.

He said the measure is accompanied by a detailed list of streets slated for repairs so citizens will know what they would get if they approve the plan. West also said he is going to propose the creation of a citizen transportation commission to oversee streets and make recommendations to the mayor and council. The idea is to add accountability to street spending. West said he will propose the commission to the council this fall.

Councilman Bob Apple cast the lone vote against placing the measure before voters. He said there isn’t enough public interest in a measure for streets, and the proposal needs more study.

He said that of the approximately 200 citizens who attended six community forums, only about two-thirds said they favored a street bond issue.

Council members on Monday asked what the city would do to ensure maintenance of any newly repaired streets.

Scott Egger, director of the street department, said arterials that require reconstruction would be built with 8 inches of crushed rock and 6.5 inches of asphalt pavement to increase their life to 50 years. Top surfaces of arterials will likely need to be ground down and repaved, at a much lower cost, every 15 or 20 years on heavily traveled routes. Money for that would be included in future street repair measures, he said.

Most arterials now have only three or four inches of asphalt on top of dirt, which leads to failure of the pavement, Egger said.

Councilwoman Cherie Rodgers said the street maintenance budget must be increased.

Council members said they will look for other sources of money for future street repair measures, including a local option gasoline tax and a street charge on monthly city utility bills.

Council President Dennis Hession said, “This is not the total solution. It’s not going to pave every street that needs to be paved.”

West said in an interview that a campaign in favor of the bond issue is already being organized.

Former Mayor Dave Rodgers has agreed to be honorary chair, West said.