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One project that has been on the wish
list for many years, resurfacing streets around the courthouse
square, may be possible before the city celebrates its
sesquicentennial in late August next year. Other street projects,
however, must wait until the city finds a new source of funding,
probably a sales tax increase.
Although the current economic downturn
has left the city strapped for money, an 80-20 federal funding
program, Federal Aid, Urban, could allow the city to spruce up the
square with overlay from curb to curb, city engineer Mark Mathon
told the council.
The FAU program sets aside funds each
year for cities, counties and townships. Lincoln currently has a
balance of $597,000 in the fund and will get another $110,000 in the
next fiscal year. The city does not get to keep the money or collect
interest on it and can use it only for very specific projects. It
must agree to pay 20 percent of the cost of any project out of its
own pocket, Mathon said.
Streets that can be repaired with FAU
funds are only those rated collectors or higher, a rating that
depends on traffic flow. Streets that qualify are Broadway from
Hamilton to Union, Pulaski from Hamilton to Logan, McLean on the
square (from Broadway to Pulaski), and Kickapoo from Broadway to
Clinton.
The work would include patching where
needed, milling and overlay up to 3¼ inches, curb repair if needed,
and upgrading ramps for disabled access. The rough cost estimate for
the project is $600,000, according to Mathon.
The city would have to pick up 20
percent of that cost, making the cost breakdown $132,000 for the
city and $528,000 from the FAU funds.
However, if the city is to qualify for
the funds and get the work done by the time it celebrates its 150th
birthday Aug. 21 to 31, it will have to stick to a tight timeline.
Plans have to be completed and submitted to the Illinois Department
of Transportation in mid-March.
Because the state allocates the money
and lets bids only on specific dates, the work probably will not
start until the end of June or early July. However, once the
resurfacing begins it shouldn’t take long, Mathon said.
Engineering costs will be about
$60,000, and the city can start paying its share by picking up these
costs and getting the work done as soon as possible, he added.
"Getting a $600,000 project done for
$132,000 is too good to pass up," Alderman Verl Prather said.
Prather said the city could fund its 20
percent share from general obligation bond money, which has been
earmarked for infrastructure. Mathon said the city could also use
motor fuel tax funds for the engineering costs.
Alderman Glenn Shelton asked if the
downtown project was on the city’s priority list of streets that
need major repair.
"We’ve always talked about the downtown
overlay. It’s been on the back burner for more than 10 years,"
Prather said.
"The reason it wasn’t put on the
priority list is because we were looking at FAU money," added Donnie
Osborne, street superintendent.
At its next regular meeting, Dec. 16,
the council will vote on whether to undertake the resurfacing
project and allocate funds for engineering costs.
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in this article]
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Funding for other street repairs,
however, will almost certainly have to come entirely from the city
budget, which right now is short of money. A priority list of needed
street repairs, drawn up by the council several years ago, adds up
to about $1,750,000. Top on the list is work on Elm Street from
Kickapoo to Fifth Street, at a cost of $410,000.
The only way to fund this street work,
council members believe, is to pass the 0.5 percent sales tax
increase which voters turned down in November and which will be back
on the ballot in the April 1 election.
Alderman Steve Fuhrer presented a chart
showing what the cost of the sales tax increase would be on
purchases from $10 to $100 and how the sales taxes in Lincoln
compare with those in other nearby cities.
The 0.5 percent sales tax increase
would add only 5 cents to a $10 purchase, 25 cents to a $50
purchase, 50 cents to a $100 purchase and $5 to a $1,000 purchase.
This is still lower than sales taxes in Bloomington/Normal,
Springfield, Decatur and Peoria.
The sales tax committee, which met
before the regular meeting, tossed around ideas for a campaign to
inform people about the need for the new tax and ways to raise funds
to promote the campaign. By state law the city cannot pay for any
type of advertising to pass a referendum.
The proposed tax would bring in from
$500,000 to $550,000 a year, according to the city treasurer, Les
Plotner, and that money could be set aside for road repairs.
However, he pointed out, even if the referendum passes in April of
2003, the city won’t collect any money for at least another year.
He said the city should let people know
exactly what specific projects the new tax money would be used for
and also how long it would take to accumulate enough money to make
the road repairs.
"Once people realize the tangible,
touchable thing they are going to get out of this tax money, it’s
going to make a difference," Plotner said.
"People said if they’d known it was for
street repair they would have voted for it," Eaton added.
Alderman Bill Melton suggested getting
funding help from the Lincoln/Logan Chamber of Commerce. Other
suggestions were to hold informational meetings at City Hall or at
other locations, such as Oasis and Friendship Manor.
In other business, Melton also
suggested that the council should consider forming a legislative
committee to keep in touch with the newly elected state senators and
representatives. The committee might include city council members,
county board members and citizens at large.
The committee would occasionally go to
Springfield to meet with legislators to keep them aware of Lincoln’s
needs.
"We need to
keep knocking on the doors to remind them some campaign promises
were made and see that they live up to them," he said. "If we just
sit by and don’t knock on their doors, nothing is going to happen.
The squeaking wheels get the grease."
[Joan Crabb]
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