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The Takoma Voice welcomes all correspondence. We remind readers that the opinions expressed here are those of the writers. Letters may be edited for length or clarity. While we strive to print every letter, we reserve the right to refuse any which we deem inappropriate for a community forum. Name, address, and phone number must be included.

City paves over taxpayers

The City's proposal to borrow millions of dollars ($4-$6M) for street repairs is bad news for Takoma Park property owners, especially those with fixed and moderate incomes. The borrowed funds would be used to alleviate a large backlog of street repairs which have resulted from the City's failure in recent years to keep up with maintenance. If approved, this huge debt will certainly require a property tax increase to pay for the costs of servicing the loan (many hundreds of thousands of dollars), repayment of the principal over a period of 15 years, and the $500,000 the City Administrator has requested to hire additional staff to oversee the work. [The tax increase can be expected to be substantially larger than the hike we recently experienced to cover the $2 million loan for the Community Center.] Further, City budgets throughout the loan period will be impacted adversely by the loan repayment expenses, which are not discretionary and which would need to receive first priority.

There are at least three options for funding street repairs which could be pursued in lieu of borrowing and which would not prompt a tax increase. The three options are not mutually exclusive:

1. Continue with a pay-as-you-go approach by appropriating reasonable amounts annually for road repairs from existing revenues, and implementing measures that preclude the City Council from diverting these funds for other purposes. [Several years ago the City established a Street Fund intended to finance repairs on an annual pay-as-you-go basis. However, the City Council has not approved adequate amounts for the Fund and over the years has diverted approved funds for other purposes.];

2. Seek a grant from Montgomery County for road repair assistance, as was done for the Pinecrest portion of the City when it was merged into the City;

3. Negotiate with the County to take over some or all of the City's street maintenance and/or provide a rebate to the City to cover the full costs for street maintenance. [Takoma Park City taxpayers are also FULL County taxpayers. Thus, we are paying the County for street maintenance which to date we have not been receiving from the County.]

Newly elected County Councilmember George Leventhal has offered to broker these negotiations.

Please contact your City Councilmembers and the Mayor and urge them to vote "NO" to the proposal to borrow millions of dollars for street repairs, and to pursue options which do not necessitate a tax increase.

Also, if possible, express your views in person at the Council worksession on this topic to be held in the City Council Chambers at City Hall (7500 Maple Ave.) on Monday, January 13, at 7:30 pm.

We are faced with a crumbling road infrastructure because of the City's mismanagement of road maintenance.

The City Council has contributed to this problem by not allocating sufficient funds in past years to keep up with road work and by failing to monitor City staff efforts in keeping up with road maintenance. Consequently, it is incumbent upon the Council to aggressively explore solutions which do not saddle the taxpayers with a huge debt burden and tax increase.

Please make your voice heard. Financing a basic City service, such as road maintenance, through massive borrowing is bad fiscal policy which does not serve the long-term interests of the City's taxpayers. If you do not express your objection the Council will move forward with this costly plan.

Takoma Park residents pay the highest property taxes of any jurisdiction in Montgomery County. Let's not exacerbate the tax problem by burdening ourselves with this unnecessary and expensive borrowing proposal.

— Jack Carson Takoma Park, MD