According to a recent evaluation, about 65.5 percent of Pittsburg’s streets are in need of some degree of maintenance, a problem that Pittsburg City Commissioners may try to solve by raising the city’s sales tax.
In 2006, the Pittsburg public works department ran a full evaluation on city streets. At the time, workers reported that only 48 percent of Pittsburg’s roads were considered “acceptable.” But when the department filed a follow-up report this year, the situation had worsened.
“Since that time, we haven’t really been able to put a significant amount of money toward road maintenance,” said Bill Beasley, Pittsburg director of public works. “We’ve had two harsh winters, and we are losing ground.”
According to the recent survey, just 34.5 percent of Pittsburg’s streets graded out as acceptable. Maintenance is required for 30.2 percent of city streets, 25.9 percent require repair and 5.6 percent require immediate repair. Nearly 4 percent of the city’s streets are brick.
“There’s significant work to be done,” Beasley said. “And we need the funds to do that kind of work.”
Beasley said the city would need an estimated $500,000 per year, for 10 or more years to make progress and get the issue back up to an acceptable level. But he conceded that it wouldn’t be easy to raise that money. The city is already reeling from state cuts in funding, he said, and raising bonds would only increase the city’s indebtedness, while driving up eventual property taxes.
And that’s where the sales tax increase suggestion comes in.
“The money we used to get that would flow down through the streets, it’s probably never coming back, at least not at the percentage we are used to getting,” said Pittsburg City Commissioner Marty Beezley. “(Sales tax) is just one possible solution. With a sales tax, everybody who enjoys our restaurants, our stores and our town would help to contribute to the maintenance of our streets.”
Beezley also said sales tax was a more “equitable” way to tax than straight property taxes.
“We should look at it not so much as a tax, but as an investment in our community,” Beezley said. “It would pay off directly for those who live in, work in, and come to our community.”
City staff is currently working to figure out about how much sales tax would be needed to generate the needed funds. As of July, a quarter-cent sales tax generated an average of $70,000 per month, or $1.75 million per year, for the city’s Sales Tax Revolving Loan Fund.
Commissioners also asked staff to look into the possibility of an election to vote on a potential increase.
“We don’t know whether we would have a special election, or (attach the question to) a county election,” Beasley said. “We’re reviewing all sides and looking at all options at this point.”
Using sales tax to maintain roads isn’t a new concept. Arma currently uses a one cent sales tax — recently increased from a half-cent sales tax — to help maintain the town’s roads.
Still, Beezley said any increase was still up for discussion.
“We’re still in the early stages right now,” Beezley said. “If we don’t take care of the problem soon, it could wind up costing us more than $500,000 (per year).
“I think the budget problems really leaves it up to communities ... whether it’s streets or schools ... to step up to the plate more than they have in the past,” Beezley said. “I know that no one likes the word ‘taxes’, but I think a sales tax might be the best way deal with this issue.”
Kevin Flaherty can be reached at kevin.flaherty@morningsun.net or by calling 231-2600 Ext. 134
