HUMBOLDT — Humboldt city officials aren’t sure which funding mechanism they would pursue to pay for future street projects, if they pursue one at all.
Members of the Humboldt Street Committee spoke Monday during a public forum regarding the state of Humboldt’s streets.
Committee members, Humboldt City Councilman Sean McReynolds, Mayor Bob Sharp, City Administrator Larry Tucker and Public Works Director Craig Mintz, assured the 30 or so residents in attendance that any potential funding source, such as sales or property tax increases, would require a public referendum.
“There won’t be any decision making tonight,” Sharp said at the outset of the meeting.
Rather, the meeting was simply to share the city’s plight and to gather any opinions from the community.
THE ISSUE WITH many of Humboldt’s streets boils down to their base, McReynolds said, which likely consists of river gravel that cannot be compacted like other types of rock. As a result, “we see the same failures year after year.
“We’ll throw some oil and new rock, and it will look good for about seven or eight months before failing again,” he continued.
And after decades of the same type of “Band-Aid” fixes, water drainage has suffered in many parts of town.
“The water can’t get to the ditches on many streets,” which in turn quickens the pace of some street failures, McReynolds said.
In fact, fixing the water drainage should be given a high priority, as well as rebuilding some streets from their base, Mintz said.
The city would need to consider hiring a structural engineer who specializes in streets to aid the city in any long-term approaches, McReynolds said.
McReynolds posed three questions:
— If money was no object, what sort of streets would the city want?
— What would be the minimum type of street improvements needed to get by today?
— What do residents think of the current “state of the streets?”
HIS QUESTIONS drew a number of similar responses.
Most would want streets with curbs, gutters and sidewalks, although realistically, doing that everywhere would not be affordable.
Likewise, the city cannot continue to only do chip-and-seal repairs because those projects do not provide long-term solutions to streets with failing bases, particularly for Humboldt’s busiest streets.
“So it appears the consensus is for us to do what we can afford until we can afford more?” McReynolds asked rhetorically.
Mintz noted that if Humboldt built more concrete streets, which would in turn require new curbs and gutters, it would greatly improve water drainage in many areas.
Another benefit is that if the concrete failed years later, crews could then put new asphalt on the surface, “because you already have a good base.”
The city would be unable to do many street rebuild projects in-house unless it purchased, rented or leased new equipment, Mintz said.
Perhaps the city could work in league with other municipalities faced with the same issues, one audience member suggested, to help purchase or lease equipment at a shared cost.
HUMBOLT cannot afford any broader long-term fixes with its current funding plan, which today consists solely of fuel tax revenues, Tucker said.
Humboldt receives a portion of state’s taxes collected on each gallon of fuel sold in the city limits. The tax rate hasn’t changed for years, although the revenues have dropped recently because motorists are driving less or are operating more fuel-efficient vehicles.
As a result, Humboldt’s fuel tax stipend brought in $62,600 in 2001, and only about $45,000 in 2009.
The state is unlikely to change its fuel tax collections over the next few years, Tucker said.
As it is, Humboldt “barely has enough to make ends meet today” with street repairs, Tucker said. “If we want to do anything else, we have to raise additional funds.”
Those options include upping sales or property taxes, or perhaps using special assessments in which property owners who would be directly affected by street improvements pay an added fee each year to the city.
A HANDFUL of residents spoke out against raising sales or property taxes.
Resident Terri Butts noted that increasing Humboldt’s sales tax rate would push it higher than either Iola’s or Chanute’s and thus would give less incentive for out-of-towners to shop in Humboldt.
Adding a quarter of a cent to the tax levy would bring it about $36,000 annually, according to figures from Tucker, which would mean that if an annual household spends $10,000 in Humboldt, the increase would mean spending an extra $25 per year.
Likewise, bringing in $36,000 a year through a property tax increase would mean a tax hike of about six mills, Tucker continued.
That would mean an extra $39 per year in property taxes for the owner of a $56,000 house.
Humboldt’s current ad valorem tax levy is about 63 mills.
Resident Jeri Luedke noted that her property taxes have increased annually, even though she has not done any substantial improvements to her home for years.
“And we still don’t know if the county is going to ask for a property tax for a new hospital,” Luedke said.
SHARP SAID the comments at Monday’s meeting will be shared next month with City Council members as they put together the city’s 2011 budget, which must be in place by August.
Any public referendum likely would be in November, Sharp said.
“This gives you plenty of time to share your views with Council members,” Sharp said. “Nothing has been decided yet.”
