On Tuesday, residents will go to the polls with a decision to make: Do we vote for a small sales tax increase to fund much-needed road repairs or do we vote for more of the same?
Sometimes it’s important to pick a side and on the issue of the proposed half cent sales hike to fix the roads, we did just that. The sales tax increase is the only option if Kewanee residents want to see real improvements to the city’s street surfaces.
The alternative seems clear. If voters decide against raising the sales tax, then we should all prepare for more of the same, which is further deterioration of the roads, deeper and more numerous potholes and more complaints from a public forced to dodge them. None of those things seem ideal.
When The Kewanee Voice interviewed Public Works Director Kevin Newton, we were struck by Newton’s answer to a question. When asked to rate Kewanee’s roads on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being perfect roads and 10 being roads in deplorable shape that could crumble soon if nothing was done, Newton pulled no punches.
“I’m not sure how it’s anything other than a 10 at this point. Yes, the condition of the streets varies, but overall, I’d say it’s a 10 because of the urgency to start addressing the situation as soon as possible, especially at today’s costs and not tomorrow’s,” Newton said.
That should set off alarm bells and concern everyone. Newton certainly seems concerned.
The proposed tax is a half cent and at the register would add mere pennies to most purchases. Buy a $100 item and pay $.050 extra. But those pennies would add up with the city officials predicting that in a year, the tax could bring in about $800,000 in funds that would be used only for road repair and supporting infrastructure. As City Manager Gary Bradley pointed out, about 18 to 20 percent of the revenue raised from the tax increase would be paid by visitors or consumers coming into Kewanee from other towns and cities. So residents would even receive a helping hand in improving road conditions.
Several years ago, the city came up with a plan to begin a systematic fix of the roads, but at the time, the city government didn’t make the move to fund such a plan. But the current city council now understands the urgent need to address this issue. It can’t be kicked down the road any longer.
The city’s 200 lane miles of road built for a population of 20,000 is in a deplorable and embarrassing state, and we are a community with a diminished population that needs to pay for the repairs of those roads. Again, what is the alternative?
One alternative, we suppose, would be to just say no. No more taxes. Yes, we all pay far too many taxes, but it’s taxes that fund things that we need. The state isn’t going to step in and save us and there’s no magic fix by securing free money in the form of grants, which are never a sure thing and often come with strings attached.
The conservative price tag of $80 million is the cost to see significant improvement of the streets. But as time goes on, the price of fixing the roads only goes higher. If we wait any longer, it will only be more costly as construction and material prices increase and the roads degrade even further.
Passing the tax now will allow city officials to begin to implement their plan by issuing bonds to start big projects. The future tax revenue would then be used to make the bond payments, and once those bonds are paid off, more bonds could be issued to start other projects and before you know it, things could be looking up like they are for the residents of Spring Valley.
Several years ago, the residents of Spring Valley found themselves at a similar crossroad. If they waited any longer, the expense and the conditions of their roads were only going to worsen, so they passed a sales tax increase. Within six or seven years of passing that tax, their rating went from around a 4 to a 7 on many of their roads. That’s quite an improvement.
And the Spring Valley sales tax increase doesn’t sunset. The sales tax proposal on the ballot Tuesday does expire in a decade. That means that in 10 years, taxpayers can make the decision whether there have been significant enough results from the sales tax increase to warrant giving city officials a second bite of the apple.
Again, what’s the alternative? We either all work together, chip in and pay for better roads now or look at the prospect of driving on rubble, dodging potholes, or paying a much higher tax than the current proposal somewhere down the bumpy, crumbling road. It’s time to stop kicking the can.
As the mayor said, If voters decide no, then the alternative is the status quo. The city will just carry on as it’s done with the budget that will only allow for bare minimum maintenance and residents will see only minimal improvements, if any. The only difference will be that people will have lost their right to complain about it.
