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FAQs about Prop 1 to Amend the HART Program to Allow Road & Trail Maintenance
Click the on any question below to find answers about the City of Homer Prop 1, a ballot measure asking Homer voters whether to amend the HART Program to include road and trail maintenance as an eligible expense. Proposition 1 will be on the City of Homer ballot for the October 3, 2017 General Election.
- What is Proposition 1?
- If I vote yes on Prop 1, am I voting for a new tax?
- What is the HART Program and why do we need to amend it with Prop 1?
- Will there still be enough money to fund road and trail improvement projects?
- Why fund maintenance?
- What kinds of maintenance will HART be allowed to fund?
- Will there be flexibility in how HART funds are allocated so capital needs and maintenance needs are met?
- If HART has all this money, why isn’t my road better?
- Will this change be forever?
- In this recession, families and businesses are having to tighten their belts. How is the City government making its budget stretch further?
- What could we expect to change if we just made cuts to the City budget equal to the amount of revenues Prop 1 would provide?
- What is the downside of amending HART to include road and trail maintenance activities?
- What if I still have questions about Proposition 1?
- How can I cast my vote on Proposition 1?
Proposition 1 asks City Homer voters whether to amend the Homer Accelerated Roads and Trails (HART) program to add City road and trail maintenance as an eligible expense.
Maintenance includes things like street grading, sweeping, plowing and sealing, pothole repair and asphalt sealing, drainage issue repair and keeping right-of-ways clear, etc.
Prop 1 puts forth is a reasonable solution to bridging budget gaps caused by State revenue declines. It allows City Council to allocate available HART funds as needed to road and trail maintenance, freeing up general funds for other essential City services, which otherwise, without new taxes or other revenues, will need to be cut substantially.
Allowing City Council to allocate available HART funds to road and trail maintenance activities brings budget gaps down to a manageable level, while still supporting the intent of the HART program: a good road and trail network.
In the current fiscal climate, the City will still need to operate on a tight budget, consider cuts and continue, as it has over the past two years, to seek out and enact cost saving measures. However, Prop 1 is a big step on the way toward fiscal balance without substantial essential services cuts or any new taxes.
HART can help maintain our roads and trails – a growing system we depend upon daily for work, school and play – while still contributing funds to build the new roads and trail we need.
Be smart with HART. Vote yes on Prop 1 in the Homer General Election on October 3.
2. If I vote yes on Prop 1, am I voting for a new tax?
No. If passed, Proposition 1 would not add a new sales tax. A small portion of existing sales tax (0.75 percent) has been dedicated to the HART fund to build new roads since 1987. Under Prop 1 your city taxes stay exactly the same; it simply allows HART funds to also be used to help maintain our growing road and trail transportation network.
3. What is the HART Program and why do we need to amend it with Prop 1?
The HART (Homer Accelerated Roads and Trails) program was established in 1987 by Homer voters as a way to upgrade substandard City roads for the purpose of reducing maintenance costs, improving access, increasing property values and improving the quality of life within the City.
0.75 percent of your City of Homer sales tax goes into the fund.
In October 2006, City voters reauthorized the HART program for an additional 20 years and, in recognition of the needs at the time, amended its purpose to include the construction of new roads and trails, with 10% percent of the funds dedicated to trails.
Now, ten years later, the State’s economic condition again prompts putting a HART amendment before the voters for approval.
City of Homer revenues have significantly declined in the past few years due to historically low oil prices, the ensuing State revenue shortfall and the overall contraction of the statewide economy, combined with elimination of the winter sales tax on non-prepared foods. After years of tight budgets with no transfers to reserves, the City of Homer faced a $1.2 million shortfall in the 2016 budget cycle.
Homer citizens and the City of Homer worked together to find budget solutions to keep funding for the essential services residents expect from their government. Widespread community conversations and three town hall meetings produced a short-term budget solution that included:
- a special election in 2015 where voters (in a 3 to 1 margin) chose to temporarily divert all tax revenues from the HART fund to the General Fund, allowing City Council to pass a balanced FY2016 budget without wholesale reductions in services;
- a 2016 budget reduced by $725,000, which included 6.5 less personnel; and
- a three-year grace period to use the HART funds, giving the City time to craft a longer-term, more sustainable budget solution.
2017 is year two of the HART suspension grace period. Prop 1 is one solution. If passed, road and trail maintenance would be added as an eligible HART program expense. This allows City Council to allocate available HART funds as needed to road and trail maintenance, freeing up general funds for other essential City services, which otherwise, without new taxes or other revenues, will need to be cut substantially.
The City will still need operate on a tight budget and enact further cost saving measures. But Prop 1 puts forth is a reasonable solution to bringing budget gaps down to a manageable level, without significant essential service reductions or any new taxes to support the level of service we expect from our city government.
4. Will there still be enough money to fund road and trail improvement projects?
Yes. If Prop 1 passes, City Council will still be able to annually dedicate a large percentage of HART funds to capital projects to keep up with demand for road and trail improvements and new construction. The City uses HART for major road improvement projects such as storm drain rehabilitation and repaving and for new construction, such as Grubstake, Snowbird and Greatland streets.
The City will also continue to use HART funds to support local road improvements through the Special Assessment Districts (SAD) process. The SAD Roads program offers an important avenue for citizens to organize and improve their roads.
Since HART began, the City has been able to upgrade or build many miles of streets, and several trails and sidewalks through town. SADs, though, which rely on resident approval within the proposed district, have been less successful in forming in recent years and the fund now has a balance of $5.2 million.
Based on historical use of HART over the last 5 years and future anticipated City project needs (slip lining and repaving for example) the projected average annual encumbrance of HART City funds is $504,306, or roughly half of annual HART revenues. Some of HART’s tax revenue can be re-appropriated without compromising capital improvements to roads and trails.
Prop 1 helps sustain the important priorities in our City budget by putting the revenues in HART to work -- investing in transportation infrastructure development and its upkeep over the long term.
Allowing road and trail maintenance expenditures from HART keeps with the original intent of HART – to improve our transportation infrastructure and keep maintenance costs as low as possible.
Should we have to reduce or put off road maintenance it gets really expensive; when roads are allowed to deteriorate too much, for instance, it can cost five or more times as much to rebuild them. Proper maintenance extends the useful life of a street or trail for the lowest cost.
Dedicating a portion of HART funds to maintenance supports public priorities in the City’s budget. Public opinion gathered in the Town Hall meetings and online survey ranked winter and summer road and trail maintenance in the top five of city services.
Proper maintenance provides quality of life and economic benefits. We depend upon our roads and trails every day to get to work, to get our kids to school, to recreate and to live our daily lives. Poor driving conditions cost motorists in extra vehicle repairs and operating costs. Certainly, when the safety is factored in, providing well-maintained roads is a wise way to use our tax revenues.
Including road and trail maintenance in HART, a dedicated funding source, recognizes that maintenance is integral to a well-functioning transportation system. It helps protect maintenance, something we rely on every day, as an essential City service.
6. What kinds of maintenance will HART be allowed to fund?
The following maintenance activities would become eligible for HART program funding under Prop 1:
- gravel road surface grading, dust control, gravel purchase, and drainage ditch/culvert maintenance;
- pavement, curb, gutter and sidewalk repair, asphalt crack sealing, pavement striping and sweeping;
- bridge maintenance, signage, right-of-way vegetation control, storm drain pipe/catch basin/manhole cleaning and repair; street light maintenance and their electricity costs;
- snow plowing and snow removal, snow dump site maintenance, purchase of sand, calcium chloride and deicing chemicals, sanding, road maintenance advertising and public notices;
- purchase of road and trail maintenance equipment and tools;
- for trails: vegetation control, trash pickup, signage, drainage, snow plowing, sanding, grading/resurfacing of gravel trails, sweeping of paved trails and trail head maintenance.
Yes. Decisions on how HART funds are used are made by City Council Ordinance. This gives Council the flexibility to allocate HART funds based on the City’s upcoming transportation infrastructure projects and budget for repairs and maintenance.
8. If HART has all this money, why isn’t my road better?
Local road improvements often happen through the City’s Special Assessment District (SAD) process, where residents of a neighborhood, or on a road can form a Special Assessment District to complete road improvements. In a SAD, the City of Homer pays for 75% of the improvement; residents agree to be assessed for the remaining 25% of the costs.
SADs are initiated by resident(s) who define a district and the improvements desired, formally file their intention with the City Clerks Office and pay a $100 fee. 51% or more of affected landowners within the defined district must vote to approve the special assessment to go forward with the improvements. The City Clerks carry out the certification vote. For more information on creating a SAD, see Title 17 of the City Code.
9. Will this change be forever?
No. The HART program is reauthorized by voters every 20 years. HART was last authorized in 2007. In ten years, voters will have the opportunity to reconsider the HART program in light of the fiscal climate and infrastructure needs as necessary.
The City of Homer recognizes that it is a crucial time to be making wise decisions to prevent budget problems now from becoming even larger problems to fix in the future.
Since 2015, the City budget has cut 5.5 positions, cut a line item for contracting a lobbyist for the City of Homer and made a 15% unallocated reduction in overtime costs. Departments are focused on providing the same level of service with less staff and with less overtime work.
The City has also sought out and implemented various cost saving measures. These include negotiating for lowered liability/property insurance premium, legal services fees and health insurance cost increases. Additionally, employee contributions to health insurance will increase proportionate to the overall increase in the premium amount the City is charged.
In 2019, it is anticipated that the City’s operating budget will need between $500,000 and $1m in revenue. The estimate assumes a lean status quo operating budget, and no new major projects that increase maintenance costs. The estimate range depends on whether we have continued growth in taxable sales and how much we limit contributions to reserves.
We all expect a certain level of service from our city government —fully staffed first responder agencies and well maintained roads for example. Relying solely on cuts to balance the budget would negatively impact the types of services and levels of support the City government provides.
To reduce government to balance the budget in 2016, the following cuts were proposed. The outcome would be similar today if we rely on cuts to make up for revenue shortfalls:
- Cut 1 Patrol Officer from the Police Department and 2 temporary seasonal positions from the Fire Department, resulting in less officer time on streets, less dispatch coverage, and slower emergency response time during the summer months.
- Cut 1.5 positions from the Library, resulting in closing the library for a minimum of 12 additional hours, an older circulation and the potential to fail to meet minimum requirements to be in compliance with the State.
- Cut .4 positions from Community Recreation and mothball the HERC, resulting in only drop-in Community Recreation activities – no educational programing, special classes or facility scheduling with the School District. No activities at all in the HERC.
- Cut 1/3 of overtime winter maintenance operator hours and temporary park maintenance employees, resulting in less capacity to clear large snow events and less responsive general snow removal; less park maintenance and cleaning of public bathrooms, trails and trash removal; no maintenance support to take on new parks or trails projects.
- Two .4 positions from the City Manager’s Office and the Clerk’s office, and a 4-day City Hall work week, resulting in less responsiveness to citizen needs, less ability to support public meetings and the need to reduce committee/Commission work.
- 70% cuts to marketing Homer for marine trades and tourism, to non-profits through the Homer Foundation City of Homer Fund, and the Pratt Museum.
Relying solely on additional cuts to balance the budget will damage our ability to weather this economic slowdown and move forward. Budgets and the taxes that support them are a system of forward exchange – we pay taxes forward, not only for immediate exchanges of goods and services, but so that we have them available in the future such as fire and EMS services, public safety and our municipal water and waste system. Cuts to essential services interrupts this forward exchange, and can leave beneficiaries in the future behind.
Just as we have benefited from budget decisions made in the past, we are in a position to create a more stable future through wise use of HART funds.
12. What is the downside of amending HART to include road and trail maintenance activities?
Meeting future capital project demands will depend on available budget, and the City may at some point have to say no to large infrastructure road and trail projects if the funding is not available.
The current unencumbered HART Program balance is $5.2m. Staff analyzed historical use of the HART fund and looked at known upcoming road and trail projects to estimate an annual average HART expenditure of $504,306 for 2017-2022. (This includes City-initiated road and trail projects and City contributions to Special Assessment Districts.) This projection was based on known upcoming capital improvement projects (Greatland Street extension and Frisbee Court SAD) and on average costs and frequency of repaving projects, storm drain projects, SADs and trail projects incurred during the past six years.
HART revenues fluctuate, but are just over $1 m per year. HART should be able to contribute to road and trail maintenance while also providing funds to build and improve our transportation infrastructure. Passage of Prop 1 will allow City Council the flexibility to invest HART funds in road and trail projects and their maintenance as needed. Voters will have the opportunity to amend the HART Program as needs change in the future. The HART Program, by ordinance, is reauthorized by voters every 20 years. It is up for reauthorization again in nine years.
13. What if I still have questions about Proposition 1?
If you still have questions about Proposition 1, the City’s budget, or the HART program, ask a city council member, the mayor, or the city manager. We all want to hear your views and provide information.
14. How can I cast my vote on Proposition 1?
Homer's general municipal election will be held October 3, 2017. Polls are open that day from 7 am to 8 pm. Absentee voting begins September 18 at City Hall. For full election information, click here.
Your vote counts! Remember to get out and vote October 3rd. Vote Yes on the City of Homer's Prop 1. Be smart with the HART. Let’s use our revenues wisely on public infrastructure we all use and need both now and for the future.
This message is paid for by the City of Homer, 491 E Pioneer Avenue, Homer, Alaska 99603. Mayor Bryan Zak approves this message.
