Highway robbery

PALMER — Budget time will soon be coming to the Mat-Su Borough, and Borough Manager John Duffy believes it could be a rough time for Road Service Area budgets.

Road Service Areas are set up in the borough to pay for snow removal and other maintenance costs, plus small capital improvements. Each landowner in the area pays taxes into the local fund and the money is spent within that area.

Duffy said that over the past year, the average increase in maintenance costs for service areas totals out to between 30 percent and 40 percent. One area, he said, saw an increase of 80 percent. Across the board, the increase has been credited to one thing — a steep rise in the cost of fuel.

“It was basically just the cost of doing business,” he said.

That has led to a situation where, in a number of the borough’s RSAs, “There’s just not enough money to pay maintenance and capital,” Duffy said.

The problem mainly stems from the tax cap. Road Service Areas can’t bump up their tax rate without voter approval.

“Willow was hurting so bad last year that they actually went out and put it to a vote,” Duffy said, but the vote failed.

Borough assembly members are set in the next couple of weeks to go to their annual retreat to discuss budget matters. Then, in a couple months, they’ll be hashing the budget out for real.

What to do about the Road Service Areas, Duffy said, will be a topic of discussion. So far, the assembly has directed him to spread the word to the Road Service Areas.

But in places where there isn’t enough money, there’s really only two options, Duffy said.

“If they cannot get the voters to approve an increase in the mill levy, then they have to cut back,” he said.

The first things to go would be new capital improvement projects. Road Service Areas generally pay for smaller projects, in the $30,000 to $50,000 range. Those funds will do things like fix a curve or repave a road.

But, if an area cuts all of its capital projects and still can’t make budget, Duffy said the only thing left is maintenance costs.

Right now, snow removal in the Mat-Su is better than it is in Anchorage, Duffy said. Trucks run more frequently and are sent out with less snow on the ground.

These days, trucks are sent out if there’s 4 inches of snow or more. The borough may have to look at changing that to 6 inches or more.

“Something’s got to be done,” Duffy said.

Contact Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.