Published: Friday, August 20, 2010
Weigh in on a transportation district in Snohomish
A meeting will be held Sept. 21 to hear what the community thinks about a tax district to that would pay for road maintenance.
SNOHOMISH -- Should the city create a tax district to pay for road maintenance?
It's your turn to speak up.
The City Council at its Tuesday meeting voted 5 -1 to set a Sept. 21 public hearing to consider establishing a Transportation Benefit District.
Councilmember Tom Hamilton voted against it. Councilmember Dean Randall was not present.
"I believed that if we are going to ask for more money, we should ask the voters," Hamilton said.
The City Council will decide after the hearing whether to establish a committee, which in turn can decide if the city should begin collecting $20 for every car registered with a city address. Road repairs are normally funded by construction sales taxes, but City Manager Larry Bauman said that money has fallen to historic lows.
The city would use the money, estimated at about $115,000 annually, for much needed maintain the city's 41 miles of roads. The money would pay for one mile of overlay every year, Bauman said.
Bauman said the city would propose a mixture of techniques like slurry seals and other less costly procedures to try to fix as much as possible on the city roads. More examination will be done to see how far the money can stretch, Bauman said.
In his objection, Hamilton noted that the infrastructure of the roads is important to everybody and he's not opposed to having a transportation district, but just wants voters to make the decision on whether to tax themselves.
Mayor Karen Guzak said the City Council would like to have about $350,000 a year for its plan to maintain the roads, a plan that would include annual maintenance to streets and improvements to traffic signals. She said that one option to cover the difference between the money from car tabs and the budget they wish to have would be selling bonds and use the $115,000 to pay the bonders back.
"We can talk about this and other options at the public hearing," Guzak said.
Following the public hearing the council will decide only on whether to create the district committee, which will comprise all seven members of the council. A decision on charging an additional $20 car tab fee would come later.
"We want to hear people opinions this. We need to know how to vote to fix the roads that we all care about," she said.
Alejandro Dominguez: 425-339-3422; adominguez@heraldnet.com.
It's your turn to speak up.
The City Council at its Tuesday meeting voted 5 -1 to set a Sept. 21 public hearing to consider establishing a Transportation Benefit District.
Councilmember Tom Hamilton voted against it. Councilmember Dean Randall was not present.
"I believed that if we are going to ask for more money, we should ask the voters," Hamilton said.
The City Council will decide after the hearing whether to establish a committee, which in turn can decide if the city should begin collecting $20 for every car registered with a city address. Road repairs are normally funded by construction sales taxes, but City Manager Larry Bauman said that money has fallen to historic lows.
The city would use the money, estimated at about $115,000 annually, for much needed maintain the city's 41 miles of roads. The money would pay for one mile of overlay every year, Bauman said.
Bauman said the city would propose a mixture of techniques like slurry seals and other less costly procedures to try to fix as much as possible on the city roads. More examination will be done to see how far the money can stretch, Bauman said.
In his objection, Hamilton noted that the infrastructure of the roads is important to everybody and he's not opposed to having a transportation district, but just wants voters to make the decision on whether to tax themselves.
Mayor Karen Guzak said the City Council would like to have about $350,000 a year for its plan to maintain the roads, a plan that would include annual maintenance to streets and improvements to traffic signals. She said that one option to cover the difference between the money from car tabs and the budget they wish to have would be selling bonds and use the $115,000 to pay the bonders back.
"We can talk about this and other options at the public hearing," Guzak said.
Following the public hearing the council will decide only on whether to create the district committee, which will comprise all seven members of the council. A decision on charging an additional $20 car tab fee would come later.
"We want to hear people opinions this. We need to know how to vote to fix the roads that we all care about," she said.
Alejandro Dominguez: 425-339-3422; adominguez@heraldnet.com.
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