By Shakira Ericksen
SPECIAL TO THE HIGHLINE TIMES

Des Moines Proposition No. 1, which will is on the Aug. 6 primary election ballot. is causing a stir on the streets of the Waterland City.

The proposed proposition increases the city utility occupation tax to pay for paving existing city streets.

Prop. 1 is part of the city’s pavement preservation program. It increases the current six-percent utility occupation tax to eight percent for 20 years authorizing two percent for paving existing city streets.

At the July 25 City Council meeting, Public Works director Dan Brewer said the street network is the city’s most expensive public asset, Estimated replacement would cost well over $100 million. Des Moines has 215 lane miles of city streets.

Asphalt pavement has a design life of 20-25 years and streets are rated by a Pavement Condition Index (PCI.) PCI rates streets from 0-100, with zero being a failed street and 100 a new street.

In 2002, 68 percent of Des Moines streets had a 70-100 percent PCI rating. That number dropped to 60 percent in 2012.

In that time frame the city spent $2.2 million on street repairs.

The first 40 percent drop in quality of a street occurs over a long period of time. During this time it is relatively inexpensive to repair any damages to the road. The next 40 percent drop occurs much more quickly, the road deteriorates much faster and the cost to repair the street is exponentially higher.

Brewer said that as soon as a street is paved and people start using it, it starts to deteriorate due to traffic, weather and other conditions. Deterioration starts slowly, and then reaches a point where the pavement begins to open up a little it and its structural integrity weakens.

The goal of Prop 1. is to maintain pavement sections before the road completely falls apart, according to Brewer.

Brewer compared it to painting a house.

Painting a house is relatively easy and inexpensive if it’s done before the paint begins to crack and bubble, when that happens and existing paint has to be peeled and scraped off, the cost and labor jumps astronomically higher, Brewer said.

Brewer said that the city can prolong the life of the pavement almost indefinitely as long as they have the funds to keep repairs up.

Some concerns have been raised that the money collected will not go directly to repairing streets. Resident James Axtell voiced his concerns about the proposition in a letter to editor printed in the July 26 Highline Times and posted online at www.highlinetimes.com.

The city will hold several public meeting, probably at the council meetings, to discuss policy issues related to the expenditure of the funds, beginning as early as September, should Proposition 1 pass.

“The city is dedicated to providing total transparency when it comes to this, and any other issue for that matter,” said Brewer.

This fund would be reviewed and approved annually by the City Council as part of the public budget adoption process.
“Anyone would be able to monitor that fund throughout the year to see how much revenue was coming in, and where the expenditures would be going,” said Brewer. “In addition, the city would create a specific web page on the city’s web site where citizens could monitor the revenue and expenditures of these funds, along with other information about the pavement preservation program.”