Gautier City outlines street shortfall, flags $16–$18 million High Street Viaduct as sales-tax vote nears

Gautier City administrators and public-works staff used a public "city coffee" meeting to sketch how a proposed half-cent capital-improvement sales tax on the August ballot would be divided and to lay out the department's most urgent priorities.

City Administrator Brian Crane told attendees that the city's overall local sales-tax rate is roughly 2.25 percent and that the half-cent measure would be used for capital projects across departments. He said the proposed split would allocate 59 percent of the CIP funds to public works, about 20 percent to public safety, 10 percent to parks, and the remaining 10 percent as a flexible pool for IT, GIS and contingencies. "It funds a majority of our capital improvements, especially for public works," Crane said.

Why it matters: staff said the city needs a little over $5 million for street repairs. Crane and public-works presenters explained the CIP currently covers roughly 34 percent of that need; a recent wastewater user-fee transfer added about 12 percent (roughly $800,000), leaving the city approximately 54 percent short of the identified funding requirement. Without the…