Transportation is always a hot topic in Northshore, whether it is traffic on State Route 522, cycling on the Burke-Gilman Trail or toll lanes on I-405. But the safety and conditions of the streets and sidewalks will take center stage on the upcoming general election ballot in Kenmore and Bothell.
Both cities are proposing measures to fund projects that are desperately needed.
In Bothell, the city is attempting to fill a funding gap to repair local roads with Proposition 1. The nine-year levy would be funded through property taxes. If passed, home owners will pay an additional 50 cents per $1,000 of assessed valuation. It would provide the city with an additional $4 million a year for various road maintenance and sidewalk projects. During the past decade and a half, cities in Washington state, including Bothell and Kenmore, have lost millions of dollars in revenue from a decrease in vehicle excise taxes, limited funding from property taxes and the recession. That loss in revenue has put most cities behind in road maintenance and funding.
This measure would help to bridge that gap in Bothell and hold the city accountable for what it spends your money on. The city will produce an annual report on where the money was spent. Most of the money will go towards fixing deteriorating roads and installing sidewalks. The thing about roads is that if you don’t spend the money now on upkeep, it will cost you more down the line as they continue to deteriorate. The city is also planning to use the money to its fullest extent by gaining state matching funds for sidewalk construction and working ahead of collecting the taxes to get the projects done sooner when it is cheaper.
No one wants to pay more in taxes. But roads are important to keep maintained because if you don’t pay for them now, you will pay exponentially more in the future.
I know that some will say, “With all the new development, make the developers pay their fair share for road maintenance.” Well, frankly, our state laws don’t allow it to work that way. Developers can only be forced to help with new roads, not existing roads. It is up to us to keep those maintained and this is a good investment for residents.
In Kenmore, the City Council has listened to the public. The city went through one of its most heartbreaking time periods a few years ago as multiple people lost their lives being hit by cars just walking through the city — where there are no sidewalks. But the city has responded to residents’ pleas with a $19.75 million bond measure, Proposition 1, to increase the safety for pedestrians and cyclists and increase access to water at city parks. This is just a start to making city streets safer to walk but it is important. Many kids in the city have to walk to school or bus stops on roads with no sidewalks or crosswalks. Kenmore is a young city as it was incorporated in 1998. And as a city this is a step it must take forward to do its most basic duty — protect its citizens’ safety. It will cost the average homeowner 32 cents for every $1,000 of assessed valuation. A small price to pay for something for which residents asked.
Matt Phelps is the regional editor of the Bothell/Kenmore Reporter.
