Residents in the boardroom of the community center for the Regional Transportation Commission meeting Wednesday. RTC member Lucia Maloney said it was the most people she’s seen at a meeting in her tenure.
How to raise funds for neighborhood streets with an estimated $21 million hole could become a central issue in the 2024 election as demonstrated at a crowded Carson City Regional Transportation meeting Wednesday.
Dozens of residents showed up to voice their opinion on one road funding mechanism the city is exploring: a city-wide general improvement district, or GID, with special assessments on properties. Many spoke out against the idea, while some expressed support. The agenda item was for discussion only, and RTC members took no action. City staff, along with Hansford Economic Consulting, will conduct more public outreach in the coming months, and the GID option is expected to go to the Board of Supervisors in February or March.
“We don’t need a GID, which is just bigger government and another office that will require staffing, supplies and benefits,” said Carson resident Lisa Partee. “The agencies we already have and have had should have been managing this all along as well as seeing to it that the city would have funds available. To me, this is neglect on the part of the city.”
Resident Anita Habberfield supported the idea of a GID.
“It appears that I’m in the minority. I do support the GID,” she said. “I think that the problem hasn’t really been kicked down the road for decades. I think there’s been hope that maybe revenues were going to increase, and everything would be better, but it hasn’t, and our roads are terrible.”
According to Carson City Public Works, 55 percent of current road revenue comes from fuel taxes, with another 41 percent from existing sales taxes. Annual revenue for roads is about $4.5 million. A 2022 analysis by Applied Pavement Technology shows an annual budget of $25.5 million is needed to maintain city roads in their current condition.
“Let’s talk about … ‘Why didn’t the city budget for these expenses years ago?’” said Mayor Lori Bagwell.
Bagwell said the city, like other municipalities, has relied on gas taxes for road maintenance while vehicles have become more fuel-efficient.
“And so, is our gas tax flat? You know, relatively flat instead of growing where the costs of road repair is exponentially growing?” she said. “I just want to reiterate: I don’t think it’s you don’t have any boards or responsible elected people or any other such thing. It’s decisions that we all make, and you weigh all of the needs of the community, and we tend to rely upon our fixed revenue sources.”
Another factor to the funding challenge is that regional collector and arterial roads qualify for federal grant funding, but the city’s neighborhood streets — the majority of the roadway network — do not.
GID?
The formation of GIDs is outlined by state law. A GID can be created by the Board of Supervisors, first by an “initiating ordinance” that includes a statement of the “basic power or basic powers for which the district is proposed to be created.” After this initial step, property owners within the district would be notified, and a hearing for the creation of the district would be set.
“If, at or before the time fixed in the initiating ordinance and notice, written protest is filed, signed by a majority of the owners of property within such proposed district, the district shall not be established,” reads NRS 318.065.
To put the protest provision in perspective, Bagwell said if 20,000 parcels are included in the proposed district, owners of 10,001 parcels would have to agree to stop the GID formation.
“It’s a very high bar, no doubt about that,” she said.
The type of GID the city is looking at is a local roads maintenance program, or LRMP. To keep neighborhood streets in fair condition — a Pavement Condition Index of 41-70 that would avoid more expensive reconstruction — the GID would need to raise an estimated $14 million a year, according to Hansford.
Special assessments could appear on monthly utility bills. Estimated vehicle trip generation was the most popular way to determine assessments, according to feedback from two public workshops in October.
“The more complicated the methodology is, the higher the administrative cost,” reads presentation materials from Hansford.
The consulting firm, hired in 2021, examined similar funding structures in western states, finding monthly charges ranging dramatically. For example, a single-family unit in Loveland, Colo., pays $3.32 a month for road maintenance, while a single-family unit in Bozeman, Mont., pays $23.40, according to Hansford.
The amount of any assessment is not being proposed at this time. Per state law, the Board of Supervisors would oversee the GID and could appoint a local governing board comprised of district trustees, or supervisors themselves could maintain GID duties.
Bagwell explained the goal is to keep administrative costs low. She wondered if the RTC could oversee the GID — something Hansford is evaluating.
“I’m really looking for the public, if we’re going to do a GID, to help us craft what it looks like,” Bagwell said.
Other RTC members, three of which are appointed volunteers, agreed public input is important.
“I think the public always needs to know just what they’re paying for, what they’re getting for it and be super transparent,” said RTC member Jim Dodson. “I do believe a GID gives the opportunity to do that, better than some of the other funding mechanisms.”
Other options
While a GID could be created by the Board of Supervisors, a proposed .25 percent transportation sales tax is expected to appear on the 2024 general election ballot. A new sales tax was supported by supervisors earlier this year and supported by many in the audience Wednesday.
“We estimate generally $4 to $4.5 million a year,” Carson City Transportation Manager Chris Martinovich said of potential revenue.
Re-using the .125 percent V&T infrastructure tax, a current sales tax scheduled to sunset in 2027, could add another $2 to $2.5 million, Martinovich said, if all the tax revenue goes to roads.
In 2016, a ballot measure to raise the tax on gasoline — up to 3 cents per gallon annually — failed with 66 percent of Carson City voters rejecting it and 34 percent supporting it. In 2022, however, the majority of voters approved a 5 cent tax on diesel fuel (per gallon) for road funding.
Information about neighborhood streets can be found at https://www.carson.org/government/departments-g-z/public-works/preserve-carson-city-roads.