Seeking ideas that won't crumble

Good Monday!

OK, let’s be honest. Who can even think straight after that Super Bowl? My goodness. Well, while they party like it’s 1999 in Seattle, we must trudge into the work week.

The County Commission had a strategic planning workshop Friday in Lecanto. Much was crammed into three hours, including reports on growth and roads that contained so much data that at one point I wrote in my notes “info overload!” (Unfortunately, neither report has a link off the agenda.)

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I was looking for conversations about moving the needle on our pressing needs: road pavements, tax structure, budget details…that sort of thing. Well, the presentations ended up taking most of the time, so there was very little time for actual strategizing.

But two ideas on polar ends came out regarding road repaving from Commissioner Holly Davis and Chair Diana Finegan.
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I covered this road challenge in detail last week. Our problem is one of finances and time. We don’t have enough money to keep up, and the road condition is worsening.

That leaves four alternatives:

• Raise taxes/fees to pay for a pavement management program.
  
• Move money in the budget to pay for it without raising taxes/fees.
  
• Continue on our merry way, whistling in the dark. Nothing to see here.
  
• Combination of 1 and 2.

Davis proposed one approach. Finegan suggested something totally different.

Finegan’s idea was simple. We’re budgeting $16 million for road resurfacing this year. A consultant’s report says we need $30 million annually just to keep the road network from falling apart. Got that? We’re at the halfway point in what we need for the bare minimum. 

Instead of nickel-and-diming the budget before a final vote to weave millions into a road resurfacing budget, why not just start with $30 million for roads and build a budget with that assumption already in place? That’s Finegan’s basic idea.

I’m fine with that, but we need the details sooner, rather than later. In general, when politicians move huge sums from one end of the budget to another end, something else that citizens want is sacrificed. If we’re building a road budget that’s twice what it is now, and we’re not raising taxes for it, what’s getting cut?

I sure look forward to seeing how that works. Seems like a tall ask, but let’s have a conversation about it. If the County Commission is going to reduce services elsewhere to pay for road paving, the community should be part of that discussion.

Davis’ idea went the total opposite approach: MSTU. I mentioned this last week as a way of paying for millions in road resurfacing that’s needed. A countywide special property tax that’s only for road pavement projects.

Then she threw out a number, and all the air was sucked from the room: $400. Um…what? As in, $400 a year from residents to pay for road repaving. Yeah, right. Gotta be kidding me.

Commissioner Janet Barek said what we were all thinking: “That’s an unrealistic number.”

Davis said the MSTU formula could be based on square footage and use, so a business would pay more than a standard house. And that $400 figure is a guess without bringing in a consultant to work it all out.

She said a 10-year MSTU would provide the funding needed to bring our road network up to speed. After that, the annual maintenance cost drops significantly.

This idea, while logical, is a massive long shot. Especially with a dollar number mentioned in a public meeting, only to be told minutes later not to take it seriously. That horse is out of the barn now.

Still, we need a workshop on it. Before dismissing the MSTU outright, let’s get into the details. Both ideas have merit until proven otherwise.

If the County Commission is going to consider a significant budget shift to pay for these roads, and that shift means a cut in services, the board should also consider the MSTU. Or maybe a combination.

Davis and Finegan get credit for pitching ideas. Let's avoid throwing them under the bus. Gotta start somewhere.

OK, that was a lot of government chat for post-Super Bowl Monday. Hope I didn’t fumble it.

Har har. Have a fun Monday, friends.

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