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 9½ 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 special assessments.
A desire has been expressed to reevaluate how the funding of sidewalk gaps is conducted. To that end, and additional 0.20 mils is being proposed to be added to the proposed millage for the purposes of fully funding the construction of new sidewalks. It is anticipated that this would be presented as a separate ballot item, conditioned on the passage the 2.125 mils ballot proposal. This 0.20-mil levy would raise an estimated $1.1 million of additional revenue.
Following the previous five-year cycle, the millage would have been scheduled to appear on the ballot in 2021. However, with the change in the election cycle, there will not necessarily be a ballot in 2021 on which to add the approval of this millage; and conducting a special election would come at a considerable cost (roughly $100,000.00). Therefore, it is being proposed to put this item on the November 2020 ballot, and if approved, the new millage would take effect when the current millage expires in 2022.
A tentative schedule of events for placing these items on the November 2020 ballot is shown below:
Present Ballot Language to Council for Approval July 20, 2020
Present Use Resolution to Council for Approval July 20, 2020
Legal Deadline for Submittal of Ballot Language August 11, 2020
Implement Public Communication Plan August - October, 2020
Election Day November 3, 2020
Staff
Prepared by: Nicholas S. Hutchinson, P.E., City Engineer
Reviewed by: Craig Hupy, Public Services Area Administrator
Approved by: Tom Crawford, Interim City Administrator
Body
Whereas, The City has benefited from a street maintenance millage since1984, with voters approving that millage seven times;
Whereas, A millage for street and sidewalk capital maintenance and repair was last approved by the voters in 2016, and included a millage of 2.125 mils for capital maintenance, resurfacing, and reconstruction of streets, bridges, and sidewalks;
Whereas, a desire has been expressed to propose an expansion of the millage to allow for the funding of new sidewalk construction; and
Whereas, To ensure seamless planning and implementation of the work for street and bridge capital maintenance, resurfacing and reconstruction, sidewalk repair, and new sidewalk construction; and to avoid the cost of a special election in 2021, a ballot question to approve a new millage should be considered in 2020 and, if approved, would take effect when the current millage expires in 2022;
Resolved, That the Council directs the City Administrator to prepare a resolution to approve ballot language for the November 2020 election to approve a millage of 2.125 mils for five years for street and bridge capital maintenance, resurfacing and reconstruction, sidewalk repair; and separate ballot language to approve a millage of 0.20 mils for five years for new sidewalk construction; and
Resolved, That the Council also directs the City Administrator to prepare a memorandum for City Council that identifies clearly what the millage is intended to be used for, including the types of ongoing capital maintenance, resurfacing, reconstruction of the existing network of streets, bridges, and sidewalks; and construction of new sidewalks.