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HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem A: Road Fund Update ECC UGENE ITY OUNCIL AIS GENDA TEM UMMARY Work Session: Road Fund Status and FY10 Budget Strategy Meeting Date: November 12, 2008 Agenda Item: A Department: Public Works Staff Contact: Kurt Corey www.eugene-or.gov Contact Telephone Number: 682-5241 ISSUE STATEMENT There has been much discussion in recent months about the City’s capital street repair program and the need for additional funding for the current backlog of needed major repairs. This work session will focus on another category of key transportation service provided to the community—the operation and maintenance (O&M) of street and traffic infrastructure. These are the services which keep the streetlights lit, the street signs and signals in good working order, the potholes and cracks patched, the alternative modes efforts energized, and much more. These services are paid for through the City’s Road Operations Fund, which has experienced a 15% decrease in revenue over the last five years while expenditures have increased by 23% in that same period, despite a major organizational restructuring which resulted in efficiencies and over $1.0 million in budget savings in FY04 and FY05. Recent operating deficits have drawn down the fund balance close to zero, and without new revenue, the fund will be unable to support roughly one-third of current City street services in FY10. The options for keeping the Road Fund solvent are clear—stop providing some of those traditional street services in order to live within the available resources and/or look for new ways to fund the services we decide to keep. This session will provide the council with information about the financial status of the Road Fund as well as the City Manager’s intended interim funding strategies to keep these critical City services funded for FY10 and beyond. BACKGROUND Previous Council Action and History In September 2001, the Citizen Budget Subcommittee on Transportation System Funding presented its Final Recommendation on Transportation Funding Issues which contained the assertion that “In the face of projected O&M shortfalls and service reductions beginning in FY03, ensuring adequate funding for the operation and maintenance activities of the City’s transportation system is absolutely essential.” In January 2007, the City Council formed a council subcommittee to study transportation funding options and bring back a recommendation. On May 23, 2007, the Council Subcommittee on Transportation Funding Solutions presented their report which stated that the first priority use of new revenue generated Operating and maintaining the existing transportation system from this initiative should be “, including on-street and off-street bike and pedestrian pathways.” At that meeting, the council approved a general course of action that was intended to lead to the implementation of a variety of strategies, including a capital local levy, a street utility fee based on parking, a street and bike path lighting fee, and an increase to the current local motor vehicle fuel tax. Z:\CMO\2008 Council Agendas\M081112\S081112A.doc Status of the Council Goal and Transportation Initiative In the subcommittee’s Summary of Recommended Funding Solutions, two new revenue options were specifically identified for funding street O&M—the Street/Bike Path Lighting Fee and a portion of the proceeds from a three-cent increase in the City’s motor vehicle fuel tax. However, the November 2007, election determined that the council would likely be unable to implement the increase in the local gas tax, as recommended by the subcommittee. A significant challenge in the implementation of a street/bike path lighting fee has been finding an affordable, efficient collection mechanism for this new street fee. Any new revenue sources proposed for an interim funding strategy for street operations and maintenance will need to address the legal and operational barriers encountered by these two efforts. Financial and/or Resource Considerations Revenue Trends and Financial Forecast The Road Fund accounts for the operations and maintenance (O&M) activities of the City’s street system. Resources are provided from Eugene’s share of State Highway Trust Fund allocations, direct allocations of state Oregon Transportation Improvement Act (OTIA III) monies, and other small miscellaneous grants, fees and permits. Following are some of the trends seen in those revenues: ? State Highway Trust Fund – This is where the City gets the majority of its Road Fund revenue, which comes from Oregon motor vehicle fuel taxes and state motor vehicle registration fees. Five years ago, the City received over $6.1 million from this trust fund; next year we expect to receive only $5.6 million, which represents a nearly 8% decrease over that period. ? Lane County/City Road Partnership Agreement - Historically, this was the second major source of revenue for the Road Fund and once contributed $2.5 million per year and, as recently as FY07, was providing over $1.2 million in annual street operations funding to Eugene. That agreement and the partnership payments were discontinued beginning in FY08 due to the County’s own challenges in maintaining adequate funding for County-maintained roads and bridges, resulting in the elimination of this important source of revenue for City street O&M funding. ? Oregon Transportation Investment Act (OTIA) III - The City began receiving a third significant source of road maintenance revenue funding in mid-FY04 in the form of the OTIA III maintenance monies allocation which is received directly from the State. As is the case with the highway trust monies, OTIA III revenues have also decreased 8% over the past five years, from $859,000 in FY05 to a projected $790,000 in FY10. ? Operating Costs – During this same five-year period that total Road Fund revenues fell by nearly 15%, the costs of providing street and traffic infrastructure services increased by 23%, primarily due to the rapidly rising prices of health insurance, utility costs, fuel and materials such as cement and asphalt. As a result, the fund is projected to have enough resources to fund only two-thirds of those traditional Road Fund services in FY10. Cost-containment and Efficiency Initiatives In response to these funding challenges, the Public Works Department has made active and on-going efforts over the years to identify and implement opportunities for increased operational efficiencies, cost containment and realignment of funding for Road Fund services. A few of these efforts are outlined here. ? At the request of the Citizen Budget Subcommittee, a respected independent consultant in 2001 reviewed how efficiently Eugene’s Road Fund dollars were being spent. His report suggested several minor modifications, which were subsequently implemented by the department, but generally found that the City’s Road Fund operations are efficient when compared to other cities. ? The Public Works Department as a whole went through a rigorous self-assessment and professional Z:\CMO\2008 Council Agendas\M081112\S081112A.doc accreditation process in 2004, followed by a similar re-accreditation process earlier in 2008, resulting in accreditation and recognition as one of the few public works agencies in the nation conforming to best management practices of the American Public Works Association. ? In FY04 and FY05, over $1.0 million in ongoing expenditure and service reductions were achieved in the Road Fund, primarily through the elimination of the in-house street overlay program and the organizational restructuring and consolidation of Public Works divisions and work crews, resulting in the elimination of supervisory positions. ? In September 2005, the council reviewed and discussed the financial status of the Road Fund and chose not to direct that Road Fund service reductions be made to stabilize the fund. Instead, in February 2006, the council directed that one-half of the funding for the Street Trees/Median Maintenance Program be shifted from the Road Fund to the Stormwater Fund, resulting in $655,000 of financial relief to the Road Fund beginning FY07. These cost reductions, efficiencies and funding realignments were implemented as a partial remedy for stabilizing the Road Fund O&M activities, with the hope that additional revenue sources for O&M would eventually be realized as an outcome of the council’s strategic goal around transportation funding. However, insufficient additional resources have been identified to date, while at the same time the cost of road O&M activities continues to grow, resulting in a projected operating loss for the current year of over $2.6 million and reducing the projected year-end fund balance to $210,000—a level far below the policy- recommended target of two month’s working capital. In FY10, the Road Fund is expected to generate a $3.2 million annual operating deficit, with that annual deficit growing to well over $5 million in the out years of the forecast. In the absence of explicit and deliberate actions, the fund will deplete all available fund resources and become insolvent sometime in the fall of 2009. On the other hand, a set of $4 million revenue and/or reduction solutions implemented by the beginning of FY10 would eliminate the projected future annual operating deficits and restore the fund balance to the policy-recommended level. Illustrative Effects of $4 Million Service Reductions Attachment A illustrates the types and magnitude of street and traffic infrastructure program reductions which would be required if a strategy of service reductions alone were employed to correct the structural deficiency between Road Fund revenues and expenditures and restore the fund balance to the policy- recommended two months’ working capital within the six-year forecast period. The attached summary of illustrative reductions (Attachment A) is intended to represent a list of the specific services which likely would be eliminated in a reduction strategy and provides examples of the types and magnitude of service level changes which would be required in order to achieve expenditure reductions of this scale. Attachment A also contains additional narrative detail about the service implications of these service reductions. If directed to make street service reductions of this magnitude, the City Manager would return within the next couple of months for a more detailed discussion of the precise service reductions and eliminations to be implemented, as well as the legal and practical implications of those actions. City Manager’s Recommended Interim Funding Strategy As an alternative to implementing the types of service reductions described in Attachment A, which would have a detrimental and long-lasting impact on the City’s transportation service system, the City Manager has directed that staff explore the implementation of one or more new revenue options, focusing in the short-term on the two options described in the following paragraphs. ? Franchise Fees on City and Other Utilities – The City has made a significant investment in the road right-of-way over the years and has historically charged a variety of utility providers for the use of Z:\CMO\2008 Council Agendas\M081112\S081112A.doc those right-of-ways. Right-of-way fees are currently assessed by the City in the form of franchise fees, business licenses and contributions-in-lieu of taxes (CILT) to both publicly and privately-owned utility providers. These fees are imposed in part for the privilege of using City-owned right-of-ways for distribution of utility services and are currently receipted into the City’s General Fund and used to support general municipal services. However, Eugene has never imposed right-of-way use fees on its own City-owned wastewater and stormwater utilities. At least 15 cities in Oregon assess franchise fees on utilities providing water, wastewater and/or stormwater services. For example, the City of Bend charges a right-of-way franchise fee on the gross revenues of the city's Water and Water Reclamation Funds to help fund a shortfall in Bend's transportation budget. The fee generates around $825,000 annually and costs the average ratepayer in Bend an additional $2.88 per month. Staff estimates that at the 7-8% level (which is in line with what the City currently charges telecom providers for use of the City right-of way), a Eugene franchise fee on City-owned sewer and $1.3-$1.5 million annually stormwater utilities would generate for maintenance of city streets. This fee would be treated as an integral business expense of the City utilities and would be reflected on the utility bills, adding an additional $1.17-$1.35 to the monthly bill for a typical Eugene residential customer and increasing the City wastewater and stormwater user fees for commercial customers by a proportionate 7-8%. ? Surcharge on Garbage Haulers – The second revenue mechanism currently under exploration for shoring up the Road Fund service system is a surcharge assessed on solid waste haulers to better reflect the impact their activities impose on the street system as a result of heavy vehicles running on every city street at least once a week. This fee would be based on the premise that heavy solid waste trucks cause relatively more damage to city streets than other categories of lighter vehicles and run principally on local streets. When discussing the recommendations of the Council Subcommittee on Transportation Funding Solutions, the council voted 5-4 to not to move forward with this revenue strategy. The City Manager believes that, with the community in jeopardy of losing core Road Fund services, this mechanism deserves more discussion. The hauler surcharge is currently being explored as a flat percentage of the hauler fees and would vary by account, based on the frequency of collection service and the customer category. As this proposal is currently being framed, a surcharge set to raise $1.5-$2.0 million annually would increase the bill for a residential customer with weekly 32-gallon service by an additional $1.60-$2.14 per month, while commercial customers would see an 8-10% increase in their bills for garbage service. It is the City Manager’s intention to bring back a more comprehensive analysis of these two revenue strategies to council early next calendar year, with the intention of implementing one or more new funding sources dedicated to Road Fund operations and maintenance activities by July 1, 2009. In addition to new revenue sources, the council could also consider redirecting existing revenues to shore up the critical road operations and maintenance functions. ? Local Gas Tax Revenue – The City’s five-cent motor vehicle fuel tax is projected to generate around $3.0 million in FY10. The council could choose to redirect a portion of those revenues to fund critical street maintenance functions performed by in-house staff which might otherwise be defunded, crack sealingasphalt street repairs concrete street/alley including ($305,000/yr.), ($490,000), and repairs ($240,000). The council could redirect $1.0 million of the local gas tax to provide funding for these core street maintenance programs and still remain consistent with the policy of using local gas tax for priority street maintenance and preservation needs. Currently, the gas tax is used for capital Z:\CMO\2008 Council Agendas\M081112\S081112A.doc pavement preservation projects, some of which might be delayed if the funding were to be redirected. ? General Fund Revenue – The council could choose to transfer new or existing general City revenue from the City’s General Fund to fund street maintenance, operations and capital preservation. However, the General Fund is facing its own significant financial challenge in the form of a long-term structural financial deficit in the fund which pays for many of the City’s most valued community services. Regardless of the revenue mechanisms and strategy adopted for the FY10 Road Fund budget, it is critical that the council and the City Manager continue to pursue other potential long-term solutions, including county-wide vehicle registration fee and/or gas tax regional opportunities such as a , as well as legislative remedies and funding solutions at the statewide level. Staff also continues to explore in street and bike path lighting fees,street utility fee based on conceptual terms both as well as a parking spaces. RELATED COUNCIL GOALS AND POLICIES The council’s Vision and Goals Statement with respect to Fair, Stable and Adequate Financial Resources reaffirms commitment to “a local government whose ongoing financial resources are based on a fair and equitable system of taxation and other revenue sources and are adequate to maintain and deliver municipal services.” The goal of the current council Transportation Initiative is to “Develop mechanisms to adequately fund Eugene’s transportation system for cars, trucks, bikes and pedestrians, including maintenance and preservation and capital reconstruction.” COUNCIL OPTIONS The three principal strategies available for balancing the FY10 Road Fund budget are: 1) to reduce the current service system to the level of existing and projected resources; 2) to increase the level of revenue to adequately fund the current service system for FY10 and future years, or 3) to implement a combination of service reductions and revenue increases. The specific policy options available include: Option 1: Develop the FY10 Road Fund budget based on known, existing revenue, which would require reductions in street services of approximately $4.0 million beginning in the FY10 fiscal year. Option 2: Develop the FY10 proposed Road Fund budget based on funding assumptions to include new revenue dedicated to street operations and maintenance. This new revenue package could include 1) a proposal for a franchise fee on City-owned stormwater and local wastewater utilities and/or 2) a proposal for a surcharge on solid waste (garbage) haulers. Option 3: Redirect a portion of one or more existing revenue sources to fund a subset of the critical street maintenance and preservation program which might otherwise be defunded (e.g., redirect $500,000-$1.0 million of local gas tax proceeds for in-house street maintenance services such as crack sealing, asphalt/concrete maintenance.) The City Manager would not proceed with this option without further discussion with the council. Option 4: Develop the FY10 Road Fund budget based on funding assumptions to include one or more of the proposed new revenues; some modest efficiency savings and service realignments; and, if necessary, and only after further council discussion, redirection of a minor portion of the local gas tax proceeds to fund on-going street operations and maintenance services. Z:\CMO\2008 Council Agendas\M081112\S081112A.doc CITY MANAGER’S RECOMMENDATION Barring specific council direction to the contrary, “Option 4” reflects the City Manager’s current thinking and intentions. SUGGESTED MOTION There is no suggested motion for this item. ATTACHMENTS A. Examples of Service Impacts in a $4.0 Million Road Fund Budget Reduction Scenario FOR MORE INFORMATION Staff Contact: Kurt Corey Telephone: 682-5241 Staff E-Mail: kurt.a.corey@ci.eugene.or.us Z:\CMO\2008 Council Agendas\M081112\S081112A.doc ATTACHMENT A Examples of Service Impacts in a $4.0 Million Road Fund Budget Reduction Scenario by Order of Magnitude Summary of Services Likely to be Eliminated or Reduced in a $4 Million Reduction Scenario Urban Forestry Program $500,000 Street Lighting Maintenance & Operations – Arterial and Collector $438,000 Organizational, Department and Division Administration $413,000 Street Lighting Maintenance & Operations - Residential $377,000 Street Median Maintenance Program $300,000 Crack Sealing Program $298,000 Hazard Tree Inspection and Removal Program $200,000 Traffic Engineering Services $140,000 Signal Preventative Maintenance - Scale back $132,000 Striping, Spray Legends, and Raised Pavement Markers - Scale back 33% $125,000 Alternative Modes $112,000 Special Projects and Studies $109,000 Sidewalk Repair for ADA Standards $107,000 Concrete Streets and Alley Repair - Scale back 40% $100,000 Street Reconstruction - Scale back 50% $100,000 Sidewalk Repair for Private Hazards $88,000 Mapping and GIS Support $81,000 Non-Regulatory Sign Fabrication, Installation, Maintenance & Repair $80,000 Street Light and Signal Locates $79,000 Infrastructure Planning $75,000 Long Range Transportation Planning $57,000 Land Use/Development Review $54,000 Neighborhood Transportation Program $35,000 Total Budget Impact of Illustrative Service Reductions (26 FTE) $4,000,000 Descriptions and Impacts of Services Likely to be Eliminated/Reduced in a $4 Million Scenario Urban Forestry Program ($500,000) - The Forestry program includes all aspects of maintaining the trees within the public right of way. The program area includes hazard reduction, maintenance pruning, and new tree plantings along all categories of streets from residential and neighborhood collector to major arterial streets. It includes internal and external consulting regarding street trees, tree removal permits and tree planting permits. Elimination of the program means abutting property owners will be held responsible for the maintenance and preventative pruning of street trees abutting their property. Staff will no longer respond to reports of trees blocking traffic signals, traffic control signs such as stop signs and yield signs, or street lights, and will not prune trees at the request of adjacent property owners or businesses. This reduction would mean the City of Eugene would no longer qualify for the Tree City USA designation from the American Arboriculture Society. Street Lighting Maintenance and Operations – Arterial and Collector ($438,000) - The ongoing maintenance of street lights includes maintaining the fixtures, underground conduits, changing bulbs, repairing crash damage and electrical costs. By turning off the street lights along arterial and collector system, the streets would be darker and the opportunity for crime would increase. Streets will be less safe for pedestrians and cyclists on these higher speed routes as they will only be illuminated by vehicle headlights. A small cost for removing hazards within the infrastructure would still exist as the poles and electrical system would deteriorate over time. Underground facilities will still need to be located when construction activity occurs in the vicinity. Organizational, Department and Division Administration ($413,000) – As street programs and positions are eliminated; the Road Fund’s allocable share of organizational central service and department administration costs would also be reduced. Division administration and support positions would be eliminated in response to the reduced workload as a result of direct service eliminations and reductions. Street Lighting Maintenance and Operations – Residential ($377,000) - The ongoing maintenance of street lights includes maintaining the poles, fixtures, conduits, changing bulbs, repairing crash damage and electrical costs. As with the Arterial and Collector Street Lighting reduction described above, the streets would be darker and less safe, and the opportunity for crime would increase. A small budget would remain for removing hazards and locating underground facilities to support construction. Street Median Maintenance Program ($300,000) – This program entails all aspects of maintaining the tree, shrub, turf, and groundcover plantings in over 28 acres of medians, roadsides, and traffic circles, including plantings along all categories of streets from residential and neighborhood collector to major arterial streets. Reductions in the program will have a very visible impact on the community, reducing the colorful and dynamic right-of-way plantings which define the entranceways to the city, enhance the neighborhoods and support the community’s goals of sustainability and livability. Along major arterials, th such as the Ferry Street Bridge corridor, West 11Avenue, and the Chambers Connector, about 23 acres of plantings will be removed, and the irrigation systems will be abandoned. Shrubs, smaller trees and flowering plants will be removed and replaced with unirrigated turf, bark, and other low-maintenance landscape types. Crack Sealing Program ($298,000) - Crack sealing is a preventative maintenance program that seals cracks within the street surface area by application of a flexible sealant to the failed area. By sealing the cracks, water is prevented from entering the road base and weakening the street structure. If cracks are sealed early enough, the life of the street is prolonged, resulting in lower maintenance costs in the long run and buying an additional three to five years before the street needs a major capital overlay. With the elimination of this service, we would see an increase in the number of potholes and other surface distresses, and streets would fail more quickly, resulting in higher maintenance costs in the short run and eventually leading to a premature need for a street overlay or even a complete reconstruction, driving up the city’s backlog of needed major street repair projects. Hazard Tree Inspection and Removal Program ($200,000) - Elimination of the Hazard Tree Inspection and Removal program would remove the City’s ability to respond to reports of trees with failing limbs or entire trees which threaten to fall. Staff would no longer respond to reports of imminent failures, trees that are hazardous because of damage or significant structural defects, or trees that are hazardous because of disease and would not provide an inspecting and consulting service to property owners who are concerned about the soundness of the street trees adjacent to their property. Without a City program, the responsibility for removal will fall on the adjacent land owner, who will be less likely to recognize and manage the tree health issues that are currently managed through the program currently. Unless property owners are diligent about removing the hazardous trees, public safety will be impacted as weak and failing trees are left standing along the City’s streets. Hazardous trees will interfere with traffic flow; will increase the risk to pedestrians and bicyclists; and will impact the City’s street surfaces, storm water system, and other infrastructure as they drop limbs and finally fall into the rights-of-way and onto adjacent properties. Traffic Engineering Services ($140,000) – This program, staffed by three existing traffic engineering technicians, provides a wide range of services. The technicians investigate and respond to citizen requests for stop, speed and other traffic control signs, count traffic volumes and turning movements, perform warrant analysis for signs and traffic signals, do speed studies, review temporary traffic control plans for utility work and public and private construction in the right of way, analyze crash data, review striping designs and lay out, review PEPI and Public plans for signage and gather traffic data in support of traffic operations and transportation planning efforts. A reduction of 2/3 of the engineering technician resource in this service would result in a near elimination of response to citizen requests, support for others and data gathering efforts for citizens, PW Engineering and the development community. The single remaining Technician will be focused on temporary traffic control, design review and layout. Signal Preventative Maintenance – Scale back ($132,000) - This service provides for maintenance and repair of all existing traffic signals, including replacing bulbs, testing detection loops, adjusting traffic signal timing plans, inspecting signal construction activities on capital projects, repairing damaged traffic signals, and installing traffic signals. The State reimburses the City for signal maintenance performed at 37 intersections on state-designated streets at approximately $25,000 per year. Currently traffic signals are inspected twice a year and loops are tested annually. This scaled back option would cut the inspection cycle to once a year. A reduction of the program service will result in more field problems with traffic signals, including burned out bulbs, dirty lenses, controller malfunctions, increased congestion as detection loops deteriorate and timing plans become outdated, leading to an increase in liability exposure and a general decline in the level of public satisfaction with the transportation system. Striping, Spray Legends and Raised Pavement Markers – Scale back 33% ($125,000) - This service provides for the annual maintenance of lane line stripes and traffic control pavement markings. The State reimburses the City for striping performed on state-designated streets at approximately $35,000 per year. A reduction of this service would result in decreased visibility of lane markings over time. Not all markings are refreshed every year, and this reduction would increase the interval between restriping and remarking. Alternative Modes ($112,000) - Engineering staff participate in regional transportation demand management activities such as the “Smart Ways to School” program. Staff also organizes events such as People Powered Fridays and Business Commute Challenge to encourage the use of alternative modes of transportation. Staff provides information to new employees as part of the New Employee Orientation training and supports departments on alternative mode issues such as information on bike lockers, bus passes, and the emergency ride home program. All of these efforts would be discontinued, and the program would be limited to participating in regional transportation demand management activities and preparing grant proposals for bicycle and pedestrian projects. Special Projects and Studies ($109,000) - Engineering staff manage many transportation special projects and studies such as the Central Area Transportation Study, Crest Drive Transportation Study, and the East University Neighborhood and Agate Street Transportation Study. Staff also participates in regional studies led by other agencies such as ODOT and LTD. The Engineering Division would lose all capacity to conduct special studies unless the studies came with dedicated new funding. The Division would participate on a very limited basis in regional studies such as ODOT’s Beltline – River Road to Coburg Road Study and LTD’s West Eugene EmX Extension project. Sidewalk Repair for ADA Standards ($107,000) - This program entails the construction of sidewalk access ramps at appropriate and key intersections in the City meeting ADA standards. Staff determines locations by various methods, such as request from citizens, request from the Human Rights Commission and through the sidewalk inspection program. This program would be eliminated except for projects that might be funded with Community Development Block Grants, if available. Accessibility to sidewalks and neighborhood connectivity would decrease. Concrete Streets and Alley Repair – Scale back 40% ($100,000) - This program consists of repairing and replacing defective sections of concrete alley and streets. Concrete street failures of this nature put vehicles, bicyclists, and pedestrians at risk. Also, once a concrete street begins to fail the failure will continue to occur at a rapid pace until the failure is excavated and repaired. As with asphalt streets, if the failure is of a small or medium size, city crews are used for doing the excavation and making repair. If the failure is of a significant nature, the work will be done by private contract as funds are available. A reduction of the service would mean that some failures would not get repaired or replaced, and the focus of the program would move to repairing only arterials and collectors. Residential street segments and alleys with severe failures would only receive maintenance to repair hazardous conditions. Street Reconstruction - Scale back 50% ($100,000) - The focus of this service is to excavate and repair streets that have had significant base failure and cannot be repaired by doing an area patch. Streets are almost always curbed and guttered and have been constructed with asphalt concrete. If the failure is of small or medium size, city crews are used to do the excavation and repair. If the failure is of a significant scope, the work will be done by private contract as funds are available. Reducing this program will accelerate the street failure, necessitating excavation of the failed area and reapplication of the base materials. Ideally, streets with localized failures can be repaired by this segment reconstruct technique, deferring the much more expensive capital overlay or reconstruction treatments by several years. Sidewalk Repair for Private Hazards ($88,000) - This program consists of repairing all defective private sidewalk authorized by the abutting property owners. Typical problems are high edges lifted by tree roots, sunken panels and broken down panels. The City offers the property owner an option of hiring city staff to make the repairs (identified by the inspector), generating revenue to offset costs of the program. This reduction would reduce the program to a level where it was entirely self-supported by revenue generated from property owners. Mitigation of hazardous conditions may be delayed due to the availability of private contractors. Mapping and GIS Support ($81,000) - Engineering Division provide transportation related mapping and database technical support for many transportation planning studies and programs, such as the South Eugene Bike and Pedestrian Study and the traffic calming program. The Engineering Division would have limited capacity to provide GIS related mapping and database technical support for transportation planning studies and programs. Non-Regulatory Sign Fabrication, Installation, Maintenance and Repair ($80,000) - This program includes the timely fabrication, installation, repair, replacement and upkeep of non-regulatory signs, including street name signs, informational or directional signs and custom signs. In addition, a night sign inventory is completed annually. This program is reimbursed from internal departments for specialized sign requests that will not be permanently posted in the public right-of-way. Custom made signs are typically more expensive and have longer lead times. Ongoing maintenance of existing non-regulatory signs would be eliminated, including the replacement of missing street name signs. The majority of signs not required by the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices are street name signs. Over time lack of street name sign maintenance and replacement will result in increased driver confusion when in unfamiliar neighborhoods and may in rare cases impact the response time of emergency services. Street Light & Signal Locates ($79,000) - This service responds to utility locates requests for capital and private construction or repair activities in the vicinity of street light and traffic signal conduit and traffic signal loops. Overall this service includes locates for storm and wastewater facilities. Reduction in the total FTE devoted to locates will reduce the timeliness of our response to locate requests. If street light and traffic signal locates are not completed in time it could result in increased damage to the City’s underground facilities, increased costs to repair those facilities damaged and possibility for electrical hazard to third parties if City facilities are broken. The City is also liable for potential civil penalties if, under state rules, adequate locates are not performed in a timely manner. Infrastructure Planning ($75,000) - Engineering staff provide planning assistance to answer questions and provide information regarding the existing street system and future street needs and proposed projects to the public, City Council, utilities and to other divisions. An example of infrastructure planning work is developing projects for the Six- Year CIP, preparing cost estimates for grant applications, participating in the West Eugene Collaborative, and evaluating transportation needs for hospital siting. Engineering support for all infrastructure planning would be reduced. In order for staff to support efforts such as the evaluation of the transportation needs for different hospital sites or mixed used areas, new earmarked funding would need to be provided. Long-Range Transportation Planning ($57,000) - Engineering staff participate in regional transportation planning through the Metropolitan Planning Organization. This includes participation on the Technical Advisory Subcommittee and Transportation Planning Committee and support to the Metropolitan Policy Committee. Engineering staff also support other departments in planning studies, such as the Courthouse District Concept Plan, Downtown Plan and River Road/Santa Clara Transition Project. Long-range transportation planning would be limited to participation in regional transportation planning activities. Support for other long-range planning would require a specific funding earmark. Land Use/Development Review ($54,000) - Engineering Division staff coordinate the review of development applications with respect to the transportation system, providing information and feedback to the development project teams, the public, and the Planning Department regarding city policies relating to dedications and construction of street improvements. Staff review projects impact to the existing transportation systems and their compliance to adopted plans and design standards. The program would lose substantial capacity to provide timely and comprehensive review comments on development applications, resulting in short and long-term impacts to the transportation system without any mitigation by the development applicants. Neighborhood Transportation Program (35,000) - This service would experience a reduced ability to take and evaluate neighborhood traffic issues, such as traffic calming or other system-wide approaches, for possible mitigation. The neighborhood transportation program would see a reduced level of service. Staff would still receive requests, but would be limited in the ability to conduct field investigations or technical analyses. Staff time for the development of traffic calming projects would be paid from capital funds, reducing the overall amount of capital funds available for the construction of traffic calming projects.