Mayor Jean Stothert held a press conference on Thursday, January 23 to announce a $200 million bond issue with a 5 year issuance to repair the roads of Omaha that have been, what she said, “50 years overdue”.
Stothert noted that she doesn’t want to raise taxes, but she wants the voters to decide whether or not they want the rehabilitation, reconstruction and repair of the streets of Omaha. The most that a taxpayer would have to contribute would depend on how much their house costs, so if one had a $100,000 house then they would have to pay a short tax of $35 a year.
The past 50 years, the streets of Omaha have been underfunded by a total of $34 million. A deep dive evaluation found that the city of Omaha should use $75 million annually for 250 lane miles, but instead, Omaha is using $41 million for only 125 lane miles annually.
“That causes a $34 million shortfall,” said Stothert.
By funding $40 million each year for the next 5 years to cover the shortfall, taxpayers could see the conditions of their roads improve. Every lane in Omaha could be resurfaced.
Stothert also said that this bond could be secured without a vote, but because of the taxpayer dollars that would be needed for this issue, she would like to let it be voted on.
The revenue options include an increase in wheel, property or sales tax.
“We will never catch up and the funding gap will increase,” said Stothert when considering a vote against the repair of Omaha lanes.
With the winter and summer of 2019, Stothert said they spent “over $13 million in potholes”.
Every year, the streets of Omaha are getting older.
“12 million dollars [were used] this year in resurfacing,” said Stothert.
With the help of this $200 million bond issue, the streets could match the potential of the city. If the bond passes, taxpayers could see the results in 5 years and then vote on whether or not they would like it to continue and if it was worth their taxpayer dollars.
“[We’re] wasting taxpayer money by what we are doing right now,” said Stothert. “It is just a band aid solution.”
- Would the construction of these paved roads be another problem of Omaha traffic?
- What would the repair process look like?
- How long would the reconstruction of roads like Dodge take place?
- And during what time of year would the reconstruction of those roads take place?
- After 5 years and if the bond got passed again, would certain streets have to undergo rehabilitation again if they met certain standards? Would every street that got repaired during the first round of reconstruction get repaired again? Or would some have the ability to be exempt depending on their conditions?
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