Gassing up the car in Albany, still without a local fuel tax.
With the price of gas soaring, would Albany voters this year approve a local fuel tax? Not a chance.
Apparently that’s what Albany Councilwoman Steph Newton thinks, too. On Monday she suggested to the council that any local gas tax election be postponed at least until May 2027. Nobody on the council disagreed.
The last time this subject came up, last year, the council was considering calling an election on a city fuel tax in November 2026, in conjunction with the general election. But no decision was made, either on the timing or the rate of a possible tax. Various rates from 5 to 10 cents a gallon have been mentioned.
The council also has been considering enacting a monthly street service fee, which it can do without an election. Both the monthly fee, to be collected from city water customers, and a local gas tax would be intended to raise money for street maintenance and repairs.
City Manager Peter Troedsson told the council Monday that a discussion of a local gas tax is on the schedule for May 13. The street service fee also is likely to come up at that time.
That’s the meeting at which the council might take a vote on whether to schedule a local gas tax election. Or it might want to wait until after the May 19 primary election, when Oregon votes on the referendum of the legislature’s gas tax and fee increases.
The result of that vote in Albany should give councilors a fairly good idea of what city voters would decide if faced with yet another tax later on. (hh)
Perhaps licensing bicycles increase and electrical vehicle increases on road usage could be implemented. After all, not all vehicular users are of petroleum. Pay by usage for all. We need someone or something to maintain our infrastructure of roads. No more potholes i say. And enough revenue for “dolling” up our river front.
Keep in mind that a bigger drain on the road more than any individual is corporations. Amazon for sure but also FedEx ups and even usps. Massive impact on the roads… yet vehicles from the Amazon warehouse in salem, Ups in tangent, they dont fuel or charge within the city.
Sadly when our federal and even state governments give tax breaks on the corporations we the people get stuck with the repair bill so they can have billions in profit.
2 minutes of studded tire driving does more damage than a lifetime of bicycle use.
How about exorbitant “fees” on studded tires? People would wait longer to put them on and remove them sooner when not needed. Not the first to last day of legal use like many seem to do.
Oh, Gawd! We will never see lowering of prices again on anything in this country is my prediction. So, they might as well do a gas tax. What the hell!!
Millersburg is considering the same, again paying consultants to see how they can sell this tax to the public. Hopefully their council will be wise and drop this hurtful tax.
Yes, the goal is to fix roads without anyone paying for it. Also, as for bicycles versus big trucks, logic tells which ones wear down roads more.
DON’T forget they wanted a street fee of $16.00 at the same time in november, just because they lay off the gas tax, doesn’t mean they won’t try the street fee, VOTER BEWARE
Soo… Exactly how would you pay for street repair?
Well, make sure that urban renewal districts are no more. (Think Cara) Thank God if one is proposed it has to be voted on by the people of Albany.
Tax increment financing that funds urban renewal districts skims money off property taxes that should go to city and county police depts., city fire depts., schools, city road repair and construction, city parks and rec., etc.
Also if one of the light poles in the mini park known as Water Street is snapped off by a car hitting it, don’t repair it. Hasso reported a while back that the material they are made of does not dent or bend….which can be repaired. The pole snaps clear off instead. Replace any snapped-off poles with old-fashioned metal poles.
Just thought of something….we may not have money in Albany to fix the streets, and some of the potholes are almost big enough to swallow a 2-year-old child, BUT, we have the nicest setting for our Farmer’s Market of any city in Oregon….or maybe any city in the whole U.S.A.!!