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Marshall Council approves 2025 street program, discusses dedicated sales tax to sustain repairs
Summary
The Marshall City Council approved the city's 2025 street program and discussed options for long-term funding, including a limited, sunset transportation sales tax.
The Marshall City Council approved a proposed 2025 street program and discussed potential revenue options, including a dedicated transportation sales tax that members said would be time-limited and visible to voters.
Council members voted to authorize the 2025 street program so staff could put the work out for bid and try to complete projects before the start of the school year. The program will use remaining funds in the city's street fund and will draw on a portion of the current budgeted $500,000 contract allowance; department staff said only about $168,000 of that allocation remained at the time of the meeting.
The action followed a several-minute discussion about rising construction costs and the limits of existing reserves. Councilman Brant said the city has more than 100 miles of streets and that inflation in materials and contract prices has driven program costs much higher than anticipated. "At the rate we're going, our street fund ... will be bankrupt in three to five years," Brant said, urging the council to consider a dedicated funding source.
City staff and other council members described options the city has studied, including a fuel tax and a dedicated transportation sales tax. The city administrator, speaking in support of a transportation sales tax, said such a tax is legally restricted to transportation projects and gives voters a near-term way to hold policymakers accountable because it typically includes a sunset provision. "A dedicated transportation sales tax ... is restricted to those activities, as they pertain to rebuilding and resurfacing and repairing streets," the city administrator said.
Council members discussed potential sizes of a voter-approved tax, including a one-cent sales tax that would direct roughly $1 million a year to contract street work, and shorter sunset terms to allow voters to reassess revenue at the ballot. Several members asked staff to return with options and public outreach plans.
The council approved the 2025 street program by voice vote. No formal roll-call tally was entered into the record for that motion; the meeting minutes show the motion passed.
