Agenda - Public Works Committee - 04/15/2014

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April 9, 2014 Page 2 be helpful in the short term, a long term solution is not only necessary, but critical to preserving expensive assets. The cost to perform maintenance on schedule is a fraction of the cost of making repairs to crumbling roads. According to the United States Dept. of Transportation, for every one dollar spent on maintenance, a road authority saves seven dollars in repairs. By the time a road is crumbling, the opportunity to make modest investments has passed. Cities are in a uniquely difficult position as it pertains to road maintenance and reconstruction. While the state and all 87 counties receive funds from the Highway User Tax Distribution Fund, only cities over 5,000 population (currently 146 of 853 cities) are eligible for state aid dollars. Within state aid cities, revenues are not keeping up with needs. Currently 84 percent of city streets are paid for with a combination property taxes, local government aid and special assessments. Each of these funding mechanisms has limitations, which we would be more than willing to discuss with you in further detail. The point is that cities are falling woefully behind on street maintenance and have long recognized the need for a new funding option. We are writing to respectfully ask for your assistance in securing passage of a funding tool that would help cities pay for street maintenance and reconstruction. The legislation, SF 607 (Carlson)/HF 745 (Erhardt), is a bipartisan bill that would allow cities to create street improvement districts. It is a local option that we strongly believe should be made available to cities statewide. Our preferred version of this initiative is attached. Cities have attempted for several years to secure passage of legislation that would enable them to implement street improvement districts. Just since 2013, 100 cities have adopted resolutions of support for enacting street improvement district authority. The legislation would authorize cities to establish street improvement districts within their boundaries to fund municipal street maintenance, construction, reconstruction and facility upgrades. If enacted, this legislation would provide cities with an additional tool to build and maintain city streets. Most importantly, this tool would allow cities to perform maintenance at the optimal time —that is, when it is most cost effective. In 2013, the counties secured expanded wheelage tax authority and local option sales tax authority to fund transportation projects. In spite of passing through all policy and finance committees having jurisdiction over the bill, the street improvement district initiative did not reach final passage. A version of the cities' street improvement district bill was included in the House's omnibus tax bill in 2013, but the provision was removed in conference committee. We strongly urge you to seek inclusion of the street improvement district language in a conference committee report that will reach final passage in 2014. We appreciate your attention to this important issue and stand ready to answer any questions you might have.