Road Funding Communication Proposal

Road funding options were last discussed at the June 12 Council work session.  At previous work sessions, the City Council reviewed draft scenarios of possible future debt for the next 10 years which included funding for roads, capital equipment and a public works campus.  Staff also presented the net debt impact if road related debt was removed and other funding was identified.  The Council adoprted a public improvement assessment policy in 2014, and has constructed several projects using this method.  The accumlation of  general obligation debt, using the assessment method to reconstruct all City roads in the future, is one of the issues that needs to be addressed.

The Council concensus was to develop a revised plan for community engagement that will comprehensively address the road funding issue.

Attached is a revised proposal from WSB Engineering to do a review of financing options and a citizen engagement procees over an 8-month period to identify the best funding options.  This period of time would allow for a thorough discussion of the issue among all stakeholders as layed out in the attached plan. The plan is divided into three phases, for a total cost of $35,000, plus printing and mailing expenses.  Based upon Council feedback at the last meeting, a provision that allows the city to terminate the program midway was added.

Also attached are several documents relative to the City's past discussions regarding alternative road funding in 2013-14, prior to the adoption of the current assessment policy.

The project is proposed as an eight month project, to commence after formal council approval at the August 28 meeting.

Funding for the project would come from the city's Public Improvement Revolving (PIR) fund.  

The WSB project team leaders, Kirsten Gray and Jennifer Edison, will be at the meeting answer any questions.

Review proposal and get questions answered prior to the item being scheduled for final approval at the next meeting.