Time writing

On Jan. 23  the Omaha Mayor Jean Stothert held a press conference to announce the support of a $200 million bond which would allow funding for long-term pavement rehabilitation throughout Omaha. 

“Conditions of our streets are important to me and our taxpayers” said Stothert.

The city said we should spend around $75 million annually on our roads but we only have spent $42 million instead. This leaves a $34 million gap.

This gap in money could be made up with an increase in wheel tax or sales tax. 

“The city could obtain the money without a vote” said the mayor, but that would go against her belief and values. 

On Jan 28. at  the city council meeting will be the first time the bond appears on the agenda. The final time to vote on the bond will be Feb. 11.

“Omaha is a greatly improving city and the cities infrastructure must match” according to Stothert. 

With the constant freezing and thawing cycle, potholes become more prominent in the streets. “The winter and spring of 2019 has shown us just exactly how this can affect our roads.”

The city put $13 million to fix these potholes, far from what needs to be spent according to Stothert. 

“$100 thousand home would pay $35.00 max for the tax”  to help improve our roads. According to the mayor and her team, they believe the tax will be significantly less than $35.

With this bond, it would need to be reoccurred every five years. The mayor states with the occurrence of the bond, the residents would see the improvement of the streets within the first five years that they would be more likely to help the reoccur. 

The levy increase would be a one time increase according to the mayor.

Stothert states she doesn’t want to raise taxes but wants the voters to decide for themselves. 

Questions: 

How did you come to the agreement that $75 million should be spent on roads?

When would the construction for these plans start?

What would be the average time frame that would be spent on the roads for repair?

On average how many lane miles should be repaired with this bond annually?

How do you plan to promote the bond to the residents as we prepare for them to vote?