Tuesday's decision by the Monroe City Council regarding street reconstruction assessments for some 16th Avenue residents sounds more like a stall than a solution.
Aldermen can prove that wrong only by working in the coming months to first find a way to make sure 16th Avenue property owners do not pay for the street work that will be done this summer. Otherwise, Tuesday's vote will have been a sham.
Once that short-term problem is solved, city leaders must devise a long-term plan that ensures private property owners are not charged for work on public streets because of where they live or based on the availability of grants. While they're at it, they ought also apply the same philosophy to sidewalk work.
For the past few weeks, proposed assessments on 23 property owners for a portion of the city's street reconstruction costs have been causing controversy. The city's policy on major street work is to require property owners to foot part of the bill when there isn't grant money available. Property owners along 16th Avenue will be charged between $1,060 and $2,971, depending on lot size, according to the city's estimated assessments. This is the sixth time in the past 17 years the city has assessed property owners for street reconstruction costs.
The policy has been vocally opposed by two aldermen, Thurston Hanson and Jan Lefevre. And on Tuesday, more than 40 residents packed City Hall to protest the plans during a public hearing.
The City Council's response was to move forward with the street work but put off a commitment to the assessments.
An attempt to allow the work but eliminate the assessments never reached a vote. Aldermen eventually voted 9-1 to get the street reconstruction done but require another public hearing before assessments would be levied in November.
Do the work now, figure out how it will be paid for later.
There was an implied commitment by the council and mayor to property owners that they will find an alternative to assessments as a funding source.
"Trust us," Alderman Mark Coplien said to audience members after an exchange with Hanson.
"Bear with us," Mayor Ron Marsh said. "We're going to get this done."
They'd better.
The cynical outlook on Tuesday's vote would be to say that city leaders are delaying the inevitable decision of billing property owners; that they are stalling for time in hopes that emotions and interest will wane between now and November.
But people won't forget, particularly those who would receive a bill for a couple thousand dollars (complete with a 7.5 percent annual interest rate on a repayment plan) a few weeks away from Christmas.
The optimist would say the city wisely bought itself time Tuesday to come up with a solution that eliminates double taxation of select property owners but still allows for necessary street work to be done.
Residents had reason to leave Tuesday's meeting with the impression they'd been promised they wouldn't have to pay the bills. Whether they believe that promise or not is another matter.
It's up to city government to make good on that promise. Prove the cynic wrong, and the optimist right.
Aldermen can prove that wrong only by working in the coming months to first find a way to make sure 16th Avenue property owners do not pay for the street work that will be done this summer. Otherwise, Tuesday's vote will have been a sham.
Once that short-term problem is solved, city leaders must devise a long-term plan that ensures private property owners are not charged for work on public streets because of where they live or based on the availability of grants. While they're at it, they ought also apply the same philosophy to sidewalk work.
For the past few weeks, proposed assessments on 23 property owners for a portion of the city's street reconstruction costs have been causing controversy. The city's policy on major street work is to require property owners to foot part of the bill when there isn't grant money available. Property owners along 16th Avenue will be charged between $1,060 and $2,971, depending on lot size, according to the city's estimated assessments. This is the sixth time in the past 17 years the city has assessed property owners for street reconstruction costs.
The policy has been vocally opposed by two aldermen, Thurston Hanson and Jan Lefevre. And on Tuesday, more than 40 residents packed City Hall to protest the plans during a public hearing.
The City Council's response was to move forward with the street work but put off a commitment to the assessments.
An attempt to allow the work but eliminate the assessments never reached a vote. Aldermen eventually voted 9-1 to get the street reconstruction done but require another public hearing before assessments would be levied in November.
Do the work now, figure out how it will be paid for later.
There was an implied commitment by the council and mayor to property owners that they will find an alternative to assessments as a funding source.
"Trust us," Alderman Mark Coplien said to audience members after an exchange with Hanson.
"Bear with us," Mayor Ron Marsh said. "We're going to get this done."
They'd better.
The cynical outlook on Tuesday's vote would be to say that city leaders are delaying the inevitable decision of billing property owners; that they are stalling for time in hopes that emotions and interest will wane between now and November.
But people won't forget, particularly those who would receive a bill for a couple thousand dollars (complete with a 7.5 percent annual interest rate on a repayment plan) a few weeks away from Christmas.
The optimist would say the city wisely bought itself time Tuesday to come up with a solution that eliminates double taxation of select property owners but still allows for necessary street work to be done.
Residents had reason to leave Tuesday's meeting with the impression they'd been promised they wouldn't have to pay the bills. Whether they believe that promise or not is another matter.
It's up to city government to make good on that promise. Prove the cynic wrong, and the optimist right.
