Agenda - Public Works Committee - 01/19/1999

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scheduling in I998 and earlier, the number of total candidate projects for 1999 has an estimated cost of $785,000. The list of candidate projects are being reviewed by the street superintendent and his staff and a schedule of selected projects and deferred projects will be presented at the meeting. Policies and Futures Programs The above discussion leads into the consideration for modifying the current policies. A_n evaluation of the City's pavement data base confirms that the level of funding needs to be increased substantially over that allocated in past years programs if the maintenance frequency goals are to be achieved. Attached is a summary of the street maintenance programs conducted since 1992. The significant increase in the program cost in the 1998 program resulted from the overlaying of approximately four miles of state aid roadway utilizing MSA funds. The need for greater amounts of future funding stems from the fact that the City pavements are aging and a larger percentage require more expensive overlays. An estimate of the cost of preventive maintenance was made utilizing was made utilizing three separate methods leads staff to conclude an annual budget of $500,000 be required in the next five years. Many of the public comments regarding this program have been of a similar nature over the years. A few of the comments have had to do with the quality or necessity of the work which was performed. However, the majority of the comments were directed at the method of financing this program. With increasing the size of the program cost, it should be anticipated that there would be an increase in the number of such comments. Attached is a table showing the average and range of assessments associated with the street maintenance program since 1992. The following are some considerations for possibly modifying the assessment procedures. (a) Elimination of Assessments. Many of the comments received at assessment hearings suggested that City general tax revenue should fund these types of maintenance projects. While many past Councilmembers agreed with this sentiment, the financial challenges of raising an additional $365,000 annually makes eliminating the entire assessment highly unlikely. This assumes the annual program budget would be raised to $500,000, when we currently budget $135,000. However, it might be possible to eliminate or phase out the assessments for sealcoating work. These projects represent smaller assessments, and a growing number of projects will include overlays. (b) Assessments on MSA Streets. There will be no projects involving MSA streets on the 1999 program. Therefore, this may be a good time to address this issue which has generated a considerable amount of discussion in the past. The actual amount of revenue generated from assessment 0fproperties fronting on MSA streets is relatively small. The issue is basically one of fairness. If a resident on a non-MSA street is assessed, should a resident on an MSA street be exempt from assessment for a similar improvement. Arguments for eliminating the assessment include the fact that the City receives MSA funds from the state for such projects. However, the City received less than five percent annually of the money it needs to bring the City's MSA system up to MSA standards. In short, the amount of money received falls far short of its programmed needs. The second @shared/pwcommit/1999/january/streetma