Proposition 411 to generate approximately $10 million per year to improve roads
When driving around Yuma, you may have noticed roads with potholes or cracks.
Roads like this can lead to damage to your vehicle and sometimes even accidents.
You may have also noticed signs for proposition 411 that will appear on the November ballot.
About six months ago, a group of concerned citizens began meeting as a group called “Fix Our Roads Yuma.”
The group was created to find a way to increase construction funds to fix the quality of the roads around Yuma.
According to information City staff has provided City Council, “the City has less than $4 million dollars per year starting next year to maintain City roads.”
Under current funding, road improvement would go from being 40 miles behind to 120 miles behind.
The information also showed that the amount raised by the 411 tax would be enough to close the gap.
The estimated mile per reconstruction cost for these roads ranges from $600,000 to $1.6 million per mile, depending on the road type.
Funding needed to maintain City roads in their current condition is $8 million dollars per year.
Jeffrey Polston, treasurer of the “Fix Our Roads” group wanted to be sure that these funds raised through a half percent sales tax increase could only be used for road improvement.
According to Polston, the funds that used to be for road improvement; the highway user revenue funds derived from taxpayer dollars, had been swept away.
Therefore, these funds have not been able to go into maintaining the roads.
The information gathered by the City also showed that “proposition 411 would generate approximately $10 million dollars per year to improve City roads.”
Polston urges voters to think about the tax as “paying now instead of later.”
Meaning, would taxpayers rather pay the half percent tax increase now, or pay thousands of dollars to fix damages done to your vehicle by potholes.
Information from the City says the tax raised by prop 411 could only be used to repair or replace road pavement.
