In a city where a burger without fries is around $18 and costs seem to be rising for residents every day, it's tough to go whole-hog on the notion of a transportation fee being tacked on to Bend residents' water and sewer bills, to the tune of around $180 per year. The City of Bend is pondering that as a solution to help pay for the costs of maintaining and fixing roads — something not covered by the massive Transportation GO! Bond voters approved several years back.
On the one hand, those potholes that crop up in the winter aren't going to fix themselves. Roads need maintenance, and that costs taxpayers money.
On the other, the costs of paying for infrastructure and maintenance are already pressing down on people who live here, where the median listing price of a home is nearing $900,000 and local salaries are not keeping pace. With tens of thousands of tourists visiting Bend every day in the summertime, it's not radical to wonder whether those tourists could be footing some of the bill for a portion of the use, too. Is there a middle ground that doesn't put all the costs on the backs of strapped residents?
A transportation fee is one of several tools municipalities can use to pay for things. Another one: A gas tax. Voters in Bend shut down the idea of an expanded gas tax in 2016 when it came before them, but that type of revenue would have been better spread out among the users of the roads – including the tourists who use them. Of course, that option has diminishing returns in a world where electric cars are becoming more of the norm – but in the short term, as in, over the next decade at the least, that would have diversified the income streams. During that process in 2016, the political will was first toward a gas tax, and then swiftly reversed to be against it. Voters just said no — and as a consequence, lost out on the potential income that could have been gleaned from all those tourists gassing up their RVs and adventure rigs when they come and go. Now, while the City of Bend is offering roundtable discussions about the transportation fee to gauge residents' support, it doesn't need the vote of the people to move it forward.
If our roads and their maintenance are in the dire shape that necessitates a transportation fee, it would appear we need to utilize all the tools in the toolbox to address the problem. Spreading out the load seems appropriate.
Those who are concerned about the issue have two more opportunities to share their thoughts with the City Council and to help them consider all the tools in the toolbox — though the City has not made the times and dates necessarily convenient for the people for whom an added fee will affect most: working people.
The next two roundtables about the proposed transportation fee are Sept. 13 — from 9:30 am to noon at the Municipal Court building on 15th Street, and Oct. 11 at the same time and place. Both of these roundtables are during the middle of the week and smack-dab in the middle of the workday, but they're also available to attend via Zoom. If you normally work that day, hopefully your boss cares as much about transportation fees as you do....
