Politics & Government
Measure G - Tax To Fix Lafayette's Roads - Goes To the Voters
Backers of the tax say they have a large support base, and the measure is likely to pass. Not everyone agrees.
Lafayette’s broken streets could get a $30 million fix if voters pass a parcel tax on the November ballot.
Measure G proposes an $89 annual tax over 10 years that would go toward repairing roads and drains, as well as maintaining streets. Past ballot items have failed to win over two-thirds of voters – but this year will be different, said Guy Atwood, co-chair of the Fix Our Roads Committee.
During the summer, the committee’s petition garnered around 1,500 signatures, representing about 10 percent of Lafayette residents.
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“We feel confident that it’s going to pass,” Atwood said. “The fact that we did not run into a lot of opposition during the petition drive is a very positive thing.”
In 1995, voters approved a bond to fix the roads, but the money dried out before all the roads were fixed.
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Voters shot down measures to raise more funds in 2004 and 2007. In the later year, a proposed $150 tax over 30 years came just shy of passing.
This year’s tax is a lightened burden – and more agreeable to voters – because it does not fund a bond, which requires interest payments.
“(Measure G) is pay as you go,” Atwood said. “As each dollar is raised, it’s spent locally.”
The tax will generate $10 million during its lifetime, and the city is expected to contribute about $20 million.
About a quarter of Lafayette’s roads need a facelift, and many have been neglected for decades because of a property tax loophole that keeps the city’s coffers from filling up, Atwood said.
His committee is moving forward with a $15,000 campaign for the measure. The city council, Lafayette Chamber of Commerce, Acalanes Valley Homeowners Association and Lafayette Taxpayers’ Association have voiced support for the tax, and only a small opposition has mounted.
Bruce Peterson, who filed an argument against the measure, said the city government is mismanaging its money and “dumping” the problem of damaged roads on taxpayers’ backs.
But dollars spent on the streets are an investment, said Don Lively, executive director and co-founder of the Lafayette Taxpayers’ Association.
“If we don’t pay for it now, we’ll pay a lot more when it gets really bad,” Lively said.
