HUMBOLDT Three weeks from today Humboldt voters will decide whether to impose an additional half-cent sales tax to help pay for street improvements.
City Administrator Cole Herder told council members Monday night he anticipates the tax to raise $120,000 year.
Reality is, that much money would be enough to upgrade only about four blocks a year.
The need numbers many times that.
Jason Hoskinson, a BG Consultants engineer, reviewed a survey that showed nearly 39 lane miles of streets, mostly in residential neighborhoods, need attention; some more than others.
To deal with the streets in a timely manner will require the city not only to institute the sales tax, but also attract Community Development Block Grant funding and long-term, low-interest loans through such agencies as the Kansas Department of Transportation and U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The least-expensive route to better roads would be chip-seal treatment, in which Herder thinks Allen County would participate. If all roads were improved by that method, the cost would be a bit over $2 million.
The downside is that chip-seal is a short-term fix. Iola, for example, uses chip-seal in a four-year rotation for its streets.
Maybe the more practical approach would be asphalt pavement rehabilitation and improvement, Hoskinson proposed, at an estimate of $8.6 million.
If Humboldt were to go the route of full-blown asphalt or concrete, the price would be between $12 million and $20 million.
CITY leaders need the additional sales tax to pass in order to plan what route to take to best address city streets.
No one wants to do the whole town more than I would, but we cant do that, Herder said. His comments were a precursor to plans city staff and council members will mull in the next couple of weeks, with a concentrated push to encourage strong voter turnout.
Seven years voters turned back a quarter-cent sales tax by a two-to-one margin. Councilwoman Vada Aikins stressed certain opponents were instrumental in defeating the measure, and in her opinion are not in the same position today to have as much influence.
If we are going to fix the streets, the community is going to have to help us, with the sales tax, said Mayor Nobby Davis. Im not crazy about paying more (taxes), but we have to if we want the streets fixed.
And, it just makes sense. Good streets save you money on a car, by not wearing tires and shocks and other things. They also improve property values.
Currently, Humboldts sales tax is 9 percent. Iolas is 8.75; Chanutes 9.5.
