Editorial: Spokane plan to keep fixing roads deserves support

Smart financing decisions could pave the way for better roads for Spokane at a lower long-term price, if voters approve a conversion to the new program this November.

They should, because the alternative is to return to the pre-2004-era of paying for street maintenance, which was hit and miss. Mostly miss.

The city has no dedicated source of funding for large-scale street repairs, but 10 years ago voters agreed to raise their property taxes to finance a $117 million bond for 10 years of work.

That decade has passed, and work from the street bonds is wrapping up ahead of schedule and under budget. The City Council and mayor appear to be unanimous in their bid to continue financing street maintenance, this time as a pay-as-you-go levy that would replace bonding. The property tax would remain the same: 57 cents per $1,000 of assessed valuation.

The city hopes to raise $100 million over 20 years. More than half that amount would be used to pay off the 16 years remaining on the 2004 street bonds. The city also hopes to use the annual levy dollars to leverage money from state and federal accounts.

If voters approve, they’d be paying more for street repairs and less on interest payments. Passage requires a simple majority of voters, rather than the 60 percent hurdle of bonds.

The political consensus is that the 2004 tax package has been handled responsibly. It was devised and sold by a conservative mayor, Jim West, and is viewed favorably by liberals and conservatives on the council. The key was to identify specific streets that would be improved and then stick to the plan.

Voters rejected a bond in 2002 because there wasn’t a project list. That merely fed suspicion that the money would be wasted.

Current city leaders are heeding that lesson by releasing a list of 10 arterial projects that would be completed in the first two years.

Mike Fagan, the biggest tax hater on the City Council, has said of the new plan, “You have a pretty common-sense, decent proposal.”

However, there will be some wrangling over how much to spend on amenities, such as bicycle lanes, curb reconstruction, trees and lighting. Nonetheless, those debates shouldn’t be enough to throttle the plan.

Spokanites are quick to complain about the pockmarked condition of streets. We all have our nominees. But the truth is that many of the worst problems have been smoothed over. Keep in mind that the city was facing about a 20-year backlog when the 2004 plan was adopted.

Until a better way to finance street maintenance comes along – don’t hold your breath – the continuation of funding from property taxes is the most responsible way to handle those bumpy rides.

Converting to a pay-as-you-go levy shows street smarts.