Council eyes taxes to fix streets.

Byline: Edward Russo The Register-Guard

At the urging of city staff, Eugene city councilors on Monday decided that they will once again consider tax hikes to curb a growing backlog of street repairs.

Councilors instructed City Manager Dennis Taylor to develop three tax proposals to raise money for street improvements. City public works officials say the money is needed to prevent a backlog of street repairs from doubling from its present level and reaching $180 million in 10 years.

Taylor and public works officials are to bring back to councilors proposals that would:

Hike the city's gas tax by 2 to 5 cents a gallon.

Impose assessments on homes and businesses.

Submit to voters a property tax-supported bond issue.

Councilors voted 5 to 3 to give Taylor permission to develop the proposals, but it is uncertain if any will be approved. Voting to proceed were councilors George Poling, Gary Pape, Nancy Nathanson, Jennifer Solomon and David Kelly. Opposed were councilors Bonny Bettman, Betty Taylor and Scott Meisner.

But even councilors who voted to give Taylor the green light cautioned that their vote does not mean they will support any of the ideas. Instead, their directive is to get the discussion rolling and a debate will take place between now and the end of the year, when a final decision could be made.

"I'm not going to say I'm going to approve or vote in favor of an ordinance," said Poling, who represents northeast Eugene. "This is just a start."

The council has been down this road before.

In 2002, councilors approved an assessment against homes and businesses that would have been based on the estimated number of vehicle trips each generates.

But councilors repealed the assessment before it began, swayed by the threat of a possible referendum from the Chamber of Commerce, and the action of the Springfield City Council, which balked at implementing its own version of the fees. Eugene councilors didn't want to have the fees unless Springfield had them, too.

In the meantime, the Eugene council went ahead with a 3-cent-a-gallon gas tax. The tax, along with other monies, is raising about $3.5 million annually.

Public works officials are using the funds to seal cracks or put new surfaces on streets so they won't deteriorate to the point where they need to be rebuilt at considerably more cost.

But public works officials figure they need another $4.5 million a year or else the $94 million backlog will double by 2013.

The request for more money sparked a debate at the council's evening work session.

Bettman, the council president, said the city's street policies are "disingenuous." Officials push for costly new streets, but that takes money away from maintaining the existing street network, she said.

Public works officials dubbed the assessment on homes and businesses a "transportation system maintenance fee," but Bettman called it a "stealth street tax," and argued that residents should be able to vote on it.

Nathanson said she supports various sources of money to pay for the street projects because it "balances the burden" among residents and businesses.

Before the city gets close to approving any proposal, Kelly said, councilors should make it a point to know what the public, the Chamber of Commerce and other interest groups think about it.

"I caution you not to go too far until you have a good sense of that," he said.