Looking north in the 1500 block of Southwest Walnut Street on Sunday afternoon. Near the top, a loose hubcap.
A hubcap lying in the middle of Walnut Street, not far from a rain-filled pothole, was a reminder that Albany faces decisions about possible ways to raise more money to repair streets.
I saw that hubcap on a random bike ride down Walnut Street on Sunday afternoon. About 20 or 30 feet away, there was what looked like a pothole of impressive size.
I’m guessing here, but I’m thinking that the hubcap was in that spot because the car it belongs to hit that pothole square. The impact jarred the wheel enough to pop the hubcap off, and after rolling a few feet the disc came to rest.
Potholes like this are to be found –and avoided if you can — in many local streets in long-established Albany neighborhoods. That’s because for at least the last 50 years, one city council after another and successive City Hall administrators have always found more urgent things on which to spend the city’s available cash.
That’s why the council this year is preparing to enact a street maintenance fee as a surcharge on the monthly water and sewer bills Albany residents pay.
The council is also preparing to make another attempt to get voters to approve a local fuel tax.
A consulting firm has been hired by the city to conduct focus groups and an opinion survey to prepare for a gas tax campaign. The tax would be a few cents a gallon, but the amount has yet to be determined.
The consultant, Consor North America Inc., will be paid about $98,500. Public Works Director Chris Bailey said the firm helped Portland pass — and recently renew — a 10-cent local fuel tax.
On Feb. 26 Bailey told the council that the decision to place a fuel-tax measure on the November election ballot must be made by July. That’s to meet various deadlines.
In the meantime, potholes remind Albany drivers that street repairs are on the city’s mind.
As for that lonely hubcap, I moved it out of the driving lane on Walnut and leaned it against the curb on the west side of the street. (hh)
This is where I left the hubcap that was lying in the middle of the 1500 block of Southwest Walnut on Sunday.
I’m glad you’re out there riding your bike and keeping the people informed of what’s going on in our little town which is growing very quickly. Thank you
did you look in the hole for the car that hub cap belongs on?
Another tax “piggie backed” onto fundamental utilities? When will it end.
When did it become legal to tax us on essentials that we must have to live, but allow us no say whatsoever in the matter?
If the town doesn’t want to approve a tax what then? Just take it anyway?
Human nature has proven that when something like this is allowed to stand unchallenged, it will be turned to whenever necessary. “Necessary” being an ever increasing moving purse that is invaded at will.
Oppression like this is ugly and far beyond tone deaf.
It requires us to have faith in the judgement and fairness of individuals who may or may not have any understanding of or compassion for anyone’s particular living situation.
Much like earlier times, this places us at the mercy of the King and their inner circle.
It doesn’t make one feel confident or secure about the future.
It amazes me they want to tax people to pay for street repair not having the money to do so but have no problem spending 23 million dollars on the Monteith Park remodel and new city vehicles I see around town. What a farce !
Why should our local citizens here in Albany believe that another tax will help solve our poorly maintained streets? If the city has $98,500 to spend for a consulting firm to push an ad campaign (which seems like mismanagement of funds) the city needs to show us that our tax dollars haven’t been diverted to other projects. There seems to be a need for an Albany DOGE.
Rest assured that any amount added to your monthly utilities will be characterized as a “trifling” amount. …as decided by your superiors. You know, it’s the ol’ “for the mere price of only one Starbucks latte-a-day… Surely we all can agree that to be a statistically insignificant sum? Well, if you don’t agree then I can’t relate to you…What are you anyway? A bum?
This is extra taxes on top of our property taxes on the assessed value of our houses we pay year after year after year. Extra fees tacked onto our utility bills are a hardship for most of us property owners that we did not cast a vote for. This is “Taxation Without Representation.” Have we all forgotten the main reason our Patriot Forefathers fought to free us from the tyranny of the King? Someone explain how this is still the democracy our Forefathers shed blood for. Seems history just repeats itself.
From the way Hasso wrote this blog you might think that for 50 years Albany has never done any street repairs or filled a pothole.
I think that for 50 years it never occurred to anyone in our city gov’t to tax us with an illegitimate fee. And that for 50 years they assumed they had to work within their budget! By the way, was it only a year or so ago they added $10.00/mo to our bill for some other reason? Again, where does it end?
I think they got the idea from some other towns that have gotten away with this and now they’re of a mind that – if they don’t do it – they’re leaving money on the table that could be theirs! I agree with Steve that every town need some sort of DOGE…Accountability shouldn’t be considered exotic.
You are saying that there will be both taxes? One levied on the users of City of Albany utilities and one levied as a gas tax (if approved by voters). I do not favor adding two sources of street maintenance fees. I think the gas tax is the more equitable option. If they impose the street maintenance fee on us ahead of the November vote on a gas tax I would be less inclined to support the gas tax.
Shucks, just put up more red light, speeding cameras and reap the benefits. It seems that the estimate for receipts for the few they have or plan to put up is quite high. Fund the pothole fund with rule breakers.
I was part of a recent interest group that met and discussed the streets and how to [fix] them. 5 of 12 were in favor of a gas tax. After two hours of looking at the numbers and thinking about the problem, 12/12 were in favor.
Albany maintains 190 miles of streets. 1/3 are in good shape, 1/3 in fair shape and 1/3 in poor shape. The City needs an estimated $12M per year in addition to the $3.5M they get now and not from property taxes or a gas tax, which we have voted down several times in our long sighted wisdom.
Stare at those numbers awhile and you might feel a bit more like supporting a gas tax, which would get visitors and commuters to help pay for the collectors and arterials they use daily by the thousands. The utility tax helps property owners pay for their residential streets which are neglected as a high rate and repaired as a low rate.
After 50 years of neglect, the medicine should be strong enough to cure the disease.