Cooperate on road work.Byline: The Register-Guard Lane County and the cities of Eugene Eugene, city (1990 pop. 112,669), seat of Lane co., W Oregon, on the Willamette River; inc. 1862. A processing and shipping center in a farming area, the "Emerald City" has lumbering, food-processing, and microchip and other electronics industries. and Springfield Springfield. 1 City (1990 pop. 105,227), state capital and seat of Sangamon co., central Ill., on the Sangamon River; settled 1818, inc. as a city 1840. have spent most of the past year trying to let the air out of each others' tires in their discussions of how to pay for road work. Now that both cities have backed away from their controversial plans for a road maintenance fee, tempers have calmed and there's a chance for a truce. Eugene and Springfield struck off on their own last year after concluding that neither the county nor the state would provide them with the money they need to maintain their streets. A Eugene survey found a backlog Backlog The total value of sales orders waiting to be fulfilled. Notes: This figure is used mainly in the manufacturing industry. Increases or decreases in a company's backlog indicate the future direction of sales and earnings. of $93 million in road repair projects; Springfield's budget for road work was on the path to depletion depletion n. when a natural resource (particularly oil) is being used up. The annual amount of depletion may, ironically, provide a tax deduction for the company exploiting the resource because if the resource they are exploiting runs out, they will no longer be able . The two cities' councils took the politically risky step of enacting municipal gas taxes of 3 cents per gallon gallon: see English units of measurement. , and adopting plans for transportation use fees. The fees were so controversial that the gas taxes were almost unnoticed when they went into effect last month. The cities planned to charge a monthly fee to every residence and business. Homeowners in Eugene could pay $2.90; businesses would pay between $20 and $1,150, depending on how much traffic they generate. Rates in Springfield were to be lower. The rationale rationale (rash´  nal´),n the fundamental reasons used as the basis for a decision or action. for the fees was that everyone uses the street network, if only for mail delivery and emergency vehicle access, so everyone should pay something. Lane County Commissioners Bill Dwyer Dwyer may refer to: People with the Surname Dwyer
The cities should not regard their reversals as a defeat. Conditions have changed since the fees were adopted - and the changes have been in the cities' favor. One reason for enacting the fees late last year was a concern that the Legislature might pre-empt pre·empt or pre-empt v. pre·empt·ed, pre·empt·ing, pre·empts v.tr. 1. To appropriate, seize, or take for oneself before others. See Synonyms at appropriate. 2. a. local governments' authority to impose such fees. The Legislature has left the cities' authority intact. In addition, the Legislature has approved a $2.5 billion transportation improvement plan. Part of that money will be shared with cities and counties. And revenue from the cities' gas taxes has begun to flow. The cities are still far short of having the money they believe they need to maintain their streets. The gas tax and the state funds will boost Eugene's street-repair budget by about $3 million a year; Springfield's revenue will increase by about half that amount. That's about a third of the amount the cities believe they need - but it's it's 1. Contraction of it is. 2. Contraction of it has. See Usage Note at its. it's it is or it has it's be ~have a good start. The cities are far better off than they were a year ago. City officials continue to argue that the transportation use fees would not be needed if Lane County were more open-handed with its road funds. The county currently has a road fund reserve of nearly $50 million. County officials warn that the reserve will be depleted de·plete tr.v. de·plet·ed, de·plet·ing, de·pletes To decrease the fullness of; use up or empty out. [Latin d over the next five years, particularly if a federal timber-payments guarantee is not renewed. They also point out that the county has paid for dozens of city street projects, totaling more than $67 million in Eugene over the past 18 years. No government - city, county or state - will ever have as much transportation money as it believes is needed. The challenge is to make efficient use of the limited funds available. A high degree of coordination ought to be possible at the local level. For instance, a joint public works department Many governments worldwide have had departments or ministries referred to as the Public Works Department either formally or informally. In Australia: - New South Wales -
adv. & adj. Throughout a whole county: found at locations countywide; a countywide search. Adj. 1. gas tax would make more sense than a polka-dot pattern of city gas taxes. Most people neither know nor care whether they're using a county or a city road - they just want it to be in decent shape. A similar disregard for jurisdictional boundaries could benefit the local transportation system. It is, after all, a single system, and now that the squabbling over transportation fees is past, city and county officials can work together to find ways to treat it as such. |
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