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Public Works warns of service cuts if streets property-tax transfer is reduced; ADA program a multi-million-dollar obligation
Summary
Public Works Director Aaron Halvorsen told council Lake Stevenspavement condition index is 73 and that reducing the property-tax transfer to streets would cut preventive maintenance, delay sidewalk/ADA ramp upgrades and could eliminate 3— staff under a half-contribution scenario and about six under a full cut.
Public Works Director Aaron Halvorsen outlined the streets divisionoperations and three funding scenarios to the Lake Stevens City Council, warning that reductions to the citys property-tax contribution to the streets fund would materially reduce service levels.
Halvorsen said Lake Stevenspavement condition index (PCI) currently sits at about 73, below many jurisdictions80 target but still in the "good" range. He described a crack-sealing and hot-box patching program that can extend pavement life by roughly 10 years and stressed the city needs a multi-year pavement-preservation strategy. Halvorsen also presented the citys ADA transition estimate at roughly $37.6 million over 40 years to bring sidewalks, curb ramps and facilities into compliance.
Under three revenue scenarios shown to council, the streets fund would receive (1) base budget property-tax transfer about $1.88 million; (2) a reduced transfer (half) resulting in about $944,000; or (3) no property-tax allocation to streets. Halvorsen said the half-transfer scenario would likely reduce completed work orders (projected 2,312 this year to 1,841) and could mean reassigning roughly 3.5 FTEs; the zero-transfer scenario would lower work-order completions further (projected 1,371) and risk elimination of slightly over six positions.
Halvorsen outlined operational impacts across programs: reduced sign replacements (nonregulatory signs likely not replaced), deferred striping (down to one-seventh of the city at the lowest funding), fewer traffic-calming studies, reduced pavement preservation spending and limited contracted sidewalk work. He urged council to leverage grant programs for pavement preservation and said lowering the property-tax contribution "becomes quite risky for the city".
Council members pressed Halvorsen on how employee counts reconcile between budget lines and in-house crew counts; Halvorsen explained some positions (engineer, operations manager) are allocated across funds and the street-fund FTE reduction could include transferring staff to stormwater rather than outright layoffs in some scenarios. Several council members praised the streets crews responsiveness and documentation, and asked staff to return with proposals that balance service levels and fiscal constraints.
The report framed streets funding choices as trade-offs between short-term reserve use and long-term asset deterioration that increases future costs.
