Grover Beach property owners may foot bill for road repair

June 23, 2014

grover beachThe Grover Beach City Council will hold a special meeting Wednesday to discuss placing a bond measure on the November ballot to fund street repairs.

City staff is recommending an initiative to issue a bond ranging from $27 million to $48 million. The measure will require a two-thirds majority in order to pass.

Issuing a $27 million bond would require Grover Beach property owners to make annual payments of $102 per $100,000 of assessed value, according to a staff report.

City staff justifies the bond measure based on a study conducted by a street engineering firm. Pavement Engineering Inc. analyzed the city’s roads and concluded that the street system will fail in six to 10 years if major rehabilitation does not occur.

Pavement Engineering Inc. rated 71 percent of Grover Beach’s residential streets and 58 percent of its major streets as poor or failing.


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Vote NO on the Road Tax in Grover Beach. They need to rebalance budgets to include, public works projects, maintenance, equipment.

The day of 80% or more of the budgets going for salaries and benefits is over. Pension spiking for Police Chief is just one example of mismanagement.

Vote against candidates that support excessive compensation,early retirement gift of public funds, Remember the Fire Tax Bailout, Water Rate Increases, and Proposed Sanitation Tax Increase.

Do not support mismanagement and bailouts. Vote NO in November !


If it were ONLY property owners who used the streets, I would 100% be in favor of increasing property taxes to pay for upkeep & repair of the streets.


However, it is NOT only property owners who use the streets of Grover Beach.


Property owners

Renters

Those from neighboring communities

Visitors from out of town


So, why not tax everyone more equally? Why not increase sales tax?


Seems more fair than putting this on the backs of our local homeowners.


Just my $0.02


Yes, a more equitable way to charge for those that actually use ( i.e. the vehicles that depend on and wear the streets ).

No to increase in sales tax. That is the most regressive form of taxation. It affects those in the bottom rungs more on a marginal basis. That is unfair.


Regressive?


$150,000/year engineer goes and buys a $72,000 new Corvette and pays $5760 in sales tax.


$15,000/year recent high school graduate working as a clerk in a convenience store pays $2500 for a 20 year old used car from Craigslist: $200 for sales tax.


Highly paid people often buy much more expensive versions of things. As a result, they pay MUCH more money towards sales tax.


I am against any attempt to squeeze more money out of the residents of Grover Beach. Fifteen years ago I remember that of the five cities; Grover Beach was the only one with finances in the black. At that time all roads were in great shape. What happened in the meantime? And I don’t mean the recession. There had to be some reason that we are now in the worst shape of all. Maybe the city should dip into the money they are saving to build the 11,000 sq. ft. conference center down by the beach. Did everyone miss the fact that we are supposed to pay for that? The hotel will be built by developers but the rest is on us.

What good will more tourism be to the town when the tourists can’t drive around? The city should get it’s priorities straight. And not out of the pockets of the residents.


Before this issue is ever put on a ballot the City Council should pass whatever ordinance necessary to ensure that every single penny of the money is spent on roads and only on roads (no administration, transfer to the general fund, loans to any other city budget unit or other misuse of these funds occur). Additionaly, the City of Grover Beach should adopt a Charter so that they are exempt from “prevailing wage” on road projects.


If the citizens of Grover approve this bond they should have the assurance that what they voted for, road improvement, is what they will get and that any contract let to have this work done will be done at the lowest cost possible cost by the most qualified personnel.


Mitch,

You should do stand up comedy. You know they will do everything on your list before they even think about fixing a single road.