POLL: Are Lakewood Streets Worth Paying For?

Lakewood citizens in 2012 may decide if streets and new infrastructure projects are worth paying for.

The Citizens Transportation Advisory Committee wrangled Tuesday with the baseline concern that the city doesn't have the budget or resources to maintain the streets in an acceptable manner. They recommended city staff provide a revised capital projects list and find $5 million to keep its 431 lane miles from deteriorating.

The CTAC, for the past six years, has firmly encouraged the council to step up and take action. . Anything above that requires voter approval.

With a majority vote on Tuesday, the CTAC recommended the City Council allocate $5 million annually to street maintencne to keep the city's roads at their current level. The added tax would also finance at least two capital projects that require a matching grant.

Any new tax will not be an easy sell to the council. Lakewood Councilman Walter Neary has already tweeted that he'd ask that a $20 fee go to voters. Councilmember Jason Whalen—who attended the meeting—said he doesn't see a $100 car license tab fee going from the council to voters.

He said nothing would be voted on until after January.

"Then we will review it again," Whalen said. "We need to get the issue(s) developed and vetted until after the new council members (Paul Bocchi, Marie Barth) are seated." Bocchi and Barth are running unopposed in next week's election.

Lakewood's streets, just like other cities’, are slowly wearing, according to the Pavement Condition Index. The PCI is used to indicate the condition of a roadway. Lakewood's streets have an average PCI of 75 out of 100, with zero being the worst.

It would drop to 65 with no treatment in five years. Maintaining a current 72-78 range would cost $5 million a year, said Desiree Winkler, transportation division manager.

Some Lakewood residents think they're taxed enough. Others may think investing in roads is critical. Finding a realistic tax increase to keep city streets from crumbling was the toughest concept for the CTAC to agree upon.

A flat city budget has created challenges to pay for road improvements. There hasn't been a road overlay program since 2007. And next year’s projected budget remains flat.

Bill Larkin, chairman of the CTAC, said his personal preference is to go for the $20.

"Somebody mentioned it's just a Band-Aid," Larkin said. "It doesn't meet the needs but it's something. It's going to be a tough sell for the $100."

Paul Wagemann, CTAC member, said the reality is they need more than $20.

"We need a $100 per car (fee) to get those kind of numbers to get the things we need," he said. "Certainly, if you do it you get some political fire and get people worked up and you don't gain anything."

The $20-$100 car tab fees being considered would be devoted to a 15-year pavement management program. The minimum tax, $20, would generate about $900,000 and would finance basic chip seals and overlay road maintenance. A $30 tax would provide $1.35 million per year.

Neither of those, however, would provide enough funding for capital road projects. That would require a $40 car license tax or other options such as sales tax or property tax increases.

Winkler said it's $5 million per year to keep the current condition, but in another four years that's going to increase to $8 million because of the rise of construction costs and other factors.

"If we (the city) don't get any grants or public help, we're going to accept the roads deteriorating and say we're (citizens) totally cool with that."

Whalen said it would be much easier to sell a $40 car tab fee if there was a buy-in that they maintain roads as well as capital improvement.

"Because there are no physical improvement results, they'd be less inclined to vote for the TBD because they can't see the benefit of the TBD."

Levi Wilhelmson, who led most of the conversation for the CTAC, said coupling the TBD with capital improvement projects would be more palatable to voters.

"We could get a better bang for our buck for the bonding options and grant-matched funding," Wilhelmson said. "That makes a lot of sense to me. People like to see tangible money being spent."

The city has secured $6 million from the Transportation Improvement Board but it needs about $600,000 to match the grant. The two projects would provide curb, gutter, sidewalk and other basic infrastructure needs to Bridgeport Way and South Tacoma Way, two of the city's busiest thoroughfares.