By Dave Forster
The Virginian-Pilot
SUFFOLK
The City Council on Wednesday discussed new, local ways to pay for road projects as state funding becomes increasingly scarce.
One possibility is to build a reserve fund with the extra tax revenue the city reaps each year from new construction, said Anne Seward, the city's budget director.
That revenue stream might fluctuate from $100,000 in a slow economy to $1.5 million in a boom year, she said. The idea would be to use the fund to leverage more state and federal money.
Suffolk has a growing list of road projects with little or no way of paying for them. One long-range plan identifies 11 priority projects totaling $318 million in 2005 dollars, and only about $20 million has been identified for them, Public Works Director Eric Nielsen said.
"We need to get a plan in this city," Seward said.
City Manager Selena Cuffee-Glenn recommended in 2008 that the city begin to create a road construction fund by setting aside two cents of the real estate tax rate. That would have raised about $1.7 million a year, but the City Council rejected it.
On Wednesday, support was voiced for other ideas.
Councilman Leroy Bennett urged staff to prod developers to contribute more for new roads; Councilman Charles Brown said the solution is light rail, not wider roads. Councilman Charles Parr told economic development staff to talk to new businesses about staggering work schedules to reduce traffic at rush hour.
Councilman Joe Barlow looked on the bright side. More congestion leads to slower traffic and, thus, less serious accidents, he said.
"I guess that's one good thing about having more cars on the road."
Later, the City Council passed a resolution to adopt local fees for overweight and oversized vehicles. The state will stop providing the service in January, allowing the city to begin collecting an estimated $86,000 a year in new revenue when it takes over the permitting process.
Before voting on the measure, Parr asked if it might be another revenue stream to put into a road fund. Cuffee-Glenn answered before he could finish the question.
"Absolutely," she said.
"Motion for approval," Parr replied.
Dave Forster, (757) 222-5563,
dave.forster@pilotonline.com
