AS&R and our partner organization Bike East Bay have endorsed Albany’s Measure C to continue raising money for sidewalk repairs.
In 2010-11 a group of AS&R volunteers measured the worst section of sidewalk on each block in the City, resulting in a condition census. The conditions indicated the City’s approach of legally requiring the owner of the adjacent property to maintain the sidewalk did not work. As a result, AS&R began advocating for the Council to place a property tax on the ballot to fund the City repairing the sidewalks.
In 2016, after five years, AS&R succeeded when the Council placed Measure P1 on the ballot, which passed with almost four fifths of voters in support. So far the City has repaired approximately 500 locations. For context, there are about 300 blocks of sidewalk in Albany. And because of the City contracts for tens of repairs at a time, the cost per repair has been about half that individual adjacent property owners spend for a single repair at a time.
Measure P1 instituted a ten-year tax. Measure C is on the ballot now in order to preclude the uncertainty regarding future funding that would occur if reauthorization was on the ballot in 2026. Uncertainty that would require City staff to wind down the program and then wind it up again if reauthorization passed.
Measure P1 was the most equitable tax Albany had put on the ballot. It taxed different properties by size bracket different amounts. Measure C replaces this tax with one per square foot of property, which is more equitable.
Measure C proposes to increase revenue by about four fifths relative to Measure P1, however the tax rate per median size parcel increases by only about a third. This is because the tax under P1 topped out at about $100 for commercial parcels no matter how large. For instance, Target is paying only about twice the amount as the owner of a large single residence property and about the same as the owner of a five residence building.
The proposed revenue increase will fund a number of sidewalk maintenance activities the City has been paying for out of its General Fund. Grinding down of lesser damage sector by sector in the City annually, which costs about $50,000 per year. Comprehensive surveying of sidewalk conditions every five years, which costs about $100,000. Part of a Public Works engineer’s time to design the sidewalk repair projects and run the program, which costs around $100,000 a year.
No other infrastructure system in the City relies on general fund revenue. In this way, Measure C continues the quest to put maintenance of sidewalks on an equal footing to maintenance of roads, storm drains, and sewers by fully funding the sidewalk maintenance program.
In addition, Measure C funds maintenance of Class I paths, including their walking and running shoulders, like those in the Ohlone Greenway and along Buchanan. Its revenue can also be spent upgrading sidewalks to standard width where they are otherwise too narrow.
And with that, you have reached the end. Congratulations – you are a policy wonk.
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