Tacoma’s streets are sick; Props A and 3 are the cure
Tacomans disagree on a great many things, but there’s hardly a soul who thinks the city’s residential streets are anything but a disgrace.
Past city officials let repair and repaving slide for decades, resulting in a backlog of deferred maintenance – at least $500 million worth – that would be impossible to catch up on current revenues.
The streets on literally thousands of city blocks have fallen into decrepitude. Many look like they’ve been under sustained mortar attack. And Tacoma has more than 160 dirt and gravel streets, something you’d expect in a third world city.
The reckoning has come. There’s no pain-free solution. The City Council can’t shut down the police and fire departments, then redeploy the public safety budgets to road crews. The years of neglect can’t be reversed without new money.
Nor can advanced street decay be frozen in place with asphalt patches. After enough water has worked through cracks and potholes into a road bed, a point of no return arrives. The surface becomes a lost cause. The city’s massive pavement problems will become more massive yet if the bad streets aren’t overhauled.
To her considerable credit, Mayor Marilyn Strickland came up with a realistic plan earlier this year to solve the fiasco. It’s on the city ballot this fall in the form of two measures: Proposition A and Proposition 3. These would enact:
▪ A sales tax of 0.001 percent – one penny on a $10 purchase.
▪ A 1.5 percent earnings tax on natural gas, electric and telephone utilities.
▪ A property tax levy of 20 cents for every $1,000 of assessed value.
Together, these would generate an estimated $175 million over 10 years at an estimated cost of $7.50 per month per household. The City Council would add $30 million over the same 10 years, and city leaders figure they can use the local money to snag $120 million in state and federal grants.
Bottom line: $325 million. This would be used to resurrect rotting streets, pave the dirt and gravel byways, create sidewalks and paths, install school-crossing beacons and otherwise make Tacoma’s neighborhoods safely navigable.
One of the package’s attractive features is accountability. The funding goes away after 10 years; it can only be renewed by another vote of the people. That will hold the city administration’s feet to the fire as it makes good on the promised improvements.
Proposition A and Proposition 3 pose a simple question: Do Tacomans care about the condition of their streets enough to part with a few dollars a month, or are they OK with continued decay?
This is the most intelligent street improvement package we’ve seen, and we urge passage of both measures. There’s no cheap alternative out there; anything that costs less will also do less.
Tacoma’s neighborhoods deserve decent pavement. The city boasts beautiful parks, waterfronts and a glorious natural setting. Leaving the roads to crumble is like wearing muddy sneakers with a designer evening gown.
This story was originally published September 28, 2015 at 10:00 AM with the headline "Tacoma’s streets are sick; Props A and 3 are the cure."