Here’s an image typical of the wost of Albany’s local streets. This pothole has been filled since the photo was taken in April 2024.
Albany residents and property owners might want to get ready for the idea of paying a monthly fee for better maintenance of local streets.
After decades of previous councils talking about the worsening condition of local streets in the older parts of town, the council in office now is ready to do something more than talk.
On the council’s agenda tonight (6 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 7) there’s an ordinance authorizing a street maintenance fee to be levied on all developed property within the city.
If the ordinance passes, the city staff will start work on laying the groundwork for setting the amount and then collecting it as part of the monthly bills for city utilities: water and sewer and storm water management, plus the monthly service fee.
The amount of the street fee itself has not been determined. Consultants hired by the city to study public opinion about street funding suggested a monthly fee of $16 for residential utility customers. Customers generating lots of traffic presumably would be charged more.
One section of the ordinance establishing the street fee says:
“The primary use of the funds shall be to perform maintenance of the city transportation system through pavement preservation and street reconstruction activities. Funding is also approved for ancillary improvements including bicycle and pedestrian improvements, striping, sidewalk and curb ramps meeting the requirements of the Americans with Disability Act (ADA).”
The ordinance says the fee does not count as a property tax. Refusal to pay it would not result in a lien on property. Instead, the city would rely on other, unspecified means of enforcing payment.
Many Oregon cities have imposed mandatory fees, including street fees, to evade the state constitutional limits on the ad-valorem property tax, and the courts have backed them up. (hh)
Well, I’m waiting for the usual pithy comments regarding this subject.
I guess the city would rather spend their money on parks and beautification rather than keeping the streets well maintained. But then who said the city is responsible for keeping the streets paved and in good condition? It seems to me that they are just generating revenue because they already spent money they shouldn’t have spent..
$16 this year. $50 in three years.
no, no, no! i vote no on fixing albanys streets. the city of albany knew long ago our power bill would increase due to the riverfront project. and the city of albany intentionally did not inform us about it. the city of albany intentionally kept that information from us. i can only imagine what they will do to take advantage of us fixing the roads. we are better off waiting 15-20 years when we have a entirely different group of people running the city of albany.
Hasso, I think you summed it up nicely way back in 2014:
“The problem with street fees is twofold: They violate the spirit of the state constitution, and they are unfair. They circumvent the tax limitation of Measure 5, adopted in 1990. And they affect property owners in an inequitable way. An aged widow who owns a house but no car and takes a taxi to the store once a week pays the same fee as her neighbor in a house with five cars and three teenage drivers.”
We would all be $20+ million dollars ahead for this work if the council hadn’t wasted it on the Waterfront project. Now the taxpayers have to pay for both.
Some pretty screwed up priorities.
When does this council stop trying to bankrupt the citizens???
Electric up 9% on top of already planned raise and now another $16 a month!! Should be voted on by citizens that are expected to pay it!!
This can be referred to the voters. https://www.albanyoregon.gov/images/stories/municipal_code/Albany02/Albany0288.html
If you file it within 30 days, it takes signatures from 10% of the voters. This might take 4,000 signatures to successfully put it on the ballot. It might be worth a try.
I’ll sign!
Yikes – I don’t even know what to say about that. Our property taxes are pretty high as are rents in Albany. Seems like an extra burden on working families to pay an extra monthly fee for street maintenance. Thanks for reporting this Hasso.
Probably going to work out like the street project they did up by the hospital put all the work into a street that has less traffic then many of or other streets in town that are in worse shape then the one they put so much money into for water drainage and the bicycle lane.If they are going to I force us to pay for improvement in or streets at least have a oversight board of home owners to give pre approval for this new tax but not a tax robbery from concern home owners of Albany .
Apparently the city council thinks they have an unending access to money for their pet projects rather than addressing necessary city maintenance. Another fee they can push through with no vote from the public who are footing this bill. Albany is becoming a place for only the upper class to live.
Here on Goldfish Farm Rd we get bypassed by the street sweeper! It goes everywhere else, just not down our street ?? Now they wanna charge a fee?
I really believe our city council is out of control.
Why do I think this?
Because our Albany City Council is O U T O F C O N T R O L.
We need to vote them out, they are not helping and they are out of control!
Very upsetting… again our community is not included in voting for these constant “utility increases”… the city makes decisions (poorly) that affect our wallets with beautification projects, that are supposed to be state mandates (BS)…
Our local streets have been terrible for years… but main traffic routes seem to be maintained for public looks, and grant monies?
So fed up!
I agree with Judy: an extra fee tacked onto our water/sewer bill to pay for upkeep on our city streets SHOULD be voted on by the citizens of Albany. Otherwise, this is taxation without representation. The City Council already started adding a $9.00 monthly fee to our water bills in June of 2021 for “City Services”. But wait, it seems that wasn’t enough. Now the City Council has gone on spending sprees and need more money, so they want to add a $16.00 fee to our monthly water bills. It’s difficult enough to come up with the money to pay our property taxes each year. When is this going to end? If I’m ordered to pay “city fees” on top of the property taxes I pay every year on time, my vote is “No!” This is Taxation without Representation.
Agree, w all the growth of this town, all the dispensaries $ . Where exactly is our tax $$ going. I hear it doesn’t touch downtown renovation. Waz up. This town. Is going down fast. Changes are needed.
Vote no. Let the city street pot holes be a monument to the mismanagement of funds by the city council.
I agree. Vote No. I hope someone gets a petition going. I say, No, to their fee; Hell, No!! As you say, let the potholes be a monument to the mismanagement of the city council.
Well, well, well…
At best, this is just really, really bad timing by the council members given there power pet project they are sticking to us. Shameful!
At worst, a malicious money grab for which they are finally going to fix “some” roads. No end in site.
What do you have to say Steph Newton-Azorr?
What do you have to say Novak?
What do you have to say Montague?
What do you have to say McGee?
What do you have to say Smith?
Ray, please just stay silent!
Love your list, hj-anony. Especially the request for Ray to stay silent. I’m awaiting reading what the Mayor and Council members have to say. I may be waiting a while!!
This is gonna be just like the tax for rainwater falling off your roof. It started out at $7.25. Now it’s $25.30 they’re going to do the same thing to us on the street repair fee to! I live on Social Security so even though these fees sound like they’re not very much to me they are! Every time you turn around, they’re hitting us with another fee that they they decide to hit us with! Add all those fees up per month it A lot of money!
Hasso, can you possibly post a city budget or tell us how to get our hands on one? I would like to know where all our money is going. Seems to me there’s a LOT of waste! This council and mayor seem to think the citizens are just loaded with all kinds of money to waste.
You can find the current city budget on Albany’s website. The link is: https://albanyoregon.gov/images/stories/finance/budget/archive/2023-2025-COA_Adopted.pdf
But it’s not easy reading. The thing is more than 500 pages long and not laid out with the intent of letting readers know what various functions or programs cost.
“The ordinance says the fee does not count as a property tax. Refusal to pay it would not result in a lien on property. Instead, the city would rely on other, unspecified means of enforcing payment.”
Of course it not a ‘tax’, a tax would have to be approved by the voters and the City can’t have that. They need the money because they used to fix the streets on other stupid projects like upgrading Monteith Park and other ‘beautification’ projects. And let’s be honest here, since it’s being added to your water bill if you don’t pay it the City will simply shut off your water.
I think that the ‘other means of payment’ will be, they would suspend your license to drive. Force you to pay that $ or they will tell you, you can’t operate your car unless you pay that.
This was conversation, about our streets 30 years ago. Each council passed the buck. Finally a council has the guts to do something about the streets. Thanks Council for what you are elected to do, make decisions for what is best for the majority of the community.
Dear Ray H so we the citizens of Albany have to pay for something that been talk about for thirty years ?And you think the city council to pass a surcharge on are water bill is the right way Togo about it.Do you not believe in democracy ? Make it go to the voters instead of asking for a blank check for what ever the city council wants to spend it on .Im sorry I do not think that right .And I do believe most of the people of Albany do not like the idea .
I loved this town when I moved here 16 years ago. I had planned on living out my days in what was then an affordable, quiet little burg. Sadly, the monster has risen it’s ugly head and made it not so nice anymore. I’m taking the money I had been saving for a final vacation to Japan and moving. If I’m going to put up with cr*p, I might as well live somewhere it’s worth it. Albany isn’t worth the price of admission anymore.
Matilda Novak put up a brave fight at the Council last night. But it sure looks like the money grabbers who want to impose an iligitimate tax by decree will win in the end.
I don’t generally follow politics but (and I hope I’m wrong) it seems Councillor Novak may not seek re election. Bummer!
Taxation without representation. Where is all the gas tax going? Is Albany turning into Portlandia South by imposing a “Fee” but calling it by another name is just another tax or bond that We the People did not approve through a vote?!?!
How about instead of grabbing our money we oust the entire Albany Board of Comrade Directors and call for a new election to bring in proper officials who are fiscally responsible with our tax money we already pay?
Idaho is looking better and better all the time.
Insane !!! They are going to make us broke for all these add ons. Not happy, I’ll sign whatever to stop this madness.
Can you spell:
RECALL
…time to consider it!! The waterfront & Monteith waste of money; now forcing us to pay extra for underground wiring in downtown, and more. These are all waste of money projects that do not benefit all but a select few! We need a petition as stated above, or even better, just throw the rascals out!! Enuf!
Here in the UK we used to have a road fund licence, every vehicle on the road paid this so if you used the roads you paid for them.
EVERY one of these comments convey valid, reasonable points and expectations. Simple logic and very easy to do………Why not each person who commented copy, paste, edit and email these comments to the city council and CC the Mayor.
Those who read and agree with these posts could also copy and paste them into an email and express their concerns via email to the city. Otherwise, they are words in which content ends with this webpage. Inform your local representatives directly, not the general public.
I thought my gas tax went to street repair… Double taxiation anyone? How much money does the city receive from the gas tax? The city should have had better standards when roads were put in.