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Residents Face Added Utility Fee to Fix City Streets
Posted: Jan 31, 2012 5:46 PM
CORPUS CHRISTI - City council members heard from the city streets committee on a proposal to collect $55 million more from taxpayers to fix streets in dire need of repair. The proposal has been in the works for a little more than a year now.
In their proposal, committee members pointed out the estimate to fix all roads in Corpus Christi is close to one billion dollars. The current budget for street maintenance - only five million dollars a year - would require 200 years to make all repairs.
The committee is recommending crews put down a seal coat every ten years that will help maintain the surface of the road and keep it smooth.
The proposal recommends every 30 years for a street to be ground up and a new coat of asphalt be laid.
At 60 years, crews will reconstruct the roadway, starting the life cycle over again.
The proposal would cover less than 10% of city streets every year.
The estimated $55 million a year would need to come from the taxpayers if the funding cannot be redirected from other tax sources.
If not, it could cost utility customers an estimated $13 to $20 a month.
The fee would vary in range for residential, business and commercial customers.
"We think that $20 or $30 a month for a single family dwelling might be on the high side. Maybe, it's not. If it is, then we would need to supplement the user fee with some other source to get to the 55 million, said committee member Pat Veteto.
Council member Nelda Martinez said she would first like to take a look at other funding before asking residents to pay a street user fee. "Because there is going to be some sacrifices. There is no doubt about that," said Martinez.
When we asked our KRIS 6 News Facebook fans how much they would be willing to pay on their utility bills to address the problem, the overwhelming response was zero dollars.
Council members suggested the issue could go on the the ballot this November.
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