The city has fallen behind on street maintenance year after year, not even funding any street maintenance at all for 3 of the last 7 years. And, for the other 4 years, the city funded only $185,000, on average, for repairs. The result, Buckenmeyer said, is that, “If we maintain current funding levels the street network condition will decline rapidly in the foreseeable future.”
As outlined at Monday night’s Council meeting, the city’s streets are far below the condition they should be in and below the average of city’s of similar size in Washington. Buckenmeyer estimated the city would need to spend $64-million over a ten year period to put the streets in top shape or $48-million to meet the average of other cities in the state.
A survey of the city’s entire street system taken last year put the city’s average street condition at 64 on the Pavement Condition Index, while 76 is the average for other cities of similar size. Some streets, such as one section of M Ave. in Old Town, are in the 20’s.
His recommendation is for the Council to create a Transportation Benefit District for the entire city, immediately add a $20 annual car tab fee, move roughly $600,000 in tax money to street maintenance, and explore other funding opportunities, including a potential property tax levy or city sales tax increase. A city car tab fee of $20 would not require a public vote.
Buckenmeyer would like to first tackle more heavily-used streets, called minor arterials such as R/Q Ave., D/A aves., 32nd St. and Commercial Ave. north of 12th St. followed by collector streets such as M Ave., 41st St., and the H, I, J, and Heart Lake corridor next.
Testimony during Monday night’s public hearing favored repairing streets, but differed on how to pay for it. Dennis Clark said, “I think as citizens of Anacortes, we should tax those of us who are going to benefit the most, and those are property owners, whether you own residential property or commercial property.”
Warren Tessler said that a property tax hike and car tab fees are the way to go, saying, “We have to have streets in good shape.” He also urged the Council to keep bicycling in mind, too.
Again, a major issue for the Council will be how to pay for improvements. Council member John Archibald said, “What level do we want to be at. What do we want to provide to our citizens?”
The Council has set a study session for next Monday at 7pm.