Title
Resolution Directing the City Administrator to Prepare Resolutions to Approve Ballot Language for a Street, Bridge, and Sidewalk Millage
Memo
The voter-approved millage for street capital maintenance is the primary source of funding for road and street repair. In 2016, city voters approved a street millage of 2.125 mils starting in 2017. Each year, this millage provides full or partial funding for pavement and sidewalk maintenance, and contributes to major road and bridge reconstruction projects. During the 2017-2020 construction seasons an average of 33-34 miles of local and major streets have and will have been maintained, resurfaced, or reconstructed annually; with the Street, Bridge, and Sidewalk Millage being the primary source of funding for these projects. During the 2017-2019 construction seasons, the equivalent of approximately 91/2 miles of sidewalk have been replaced and an additional 14,500 sidewalk slabs have been repaired. Additional work is still pending for the 2020 and 2021 construction seasons.
The City has established a more aggressive capital preventative maintenance program for the road system, starting in the construction season of 2016. To meet the goals and expectations of this new program, the City needs to be able to seamlessly plan the funding for those capital maintenance projects. To these ends, a ballot item is being proposed for the November 2020 election for the Street, Bridge, and Sidewalk Millage at same rate as 2016 (2.125 mils).
The filling of sidewalk gaps is a community goal that is consistent with various policy documents, including the Non-Motorized Transportation Plan, Complete Streets, and Sustainability Framework. Currently, as required by Chapters 12 & 13 of City Code, the construction of new sidewalks is specially assessed to the benefitting properties. As it was established, the previous millage was able to fund the repair of existing sidewalks, but not replace the funding that would be collected through spec...
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