Overland Park infrastructure group says sales tax increase could reduce chip seal work

An Overland Park infrastructure advisory group says renewing and increasing a special sales tax could be one way in which the city could fund improvements to the city’s aging infrastructure while reducing its reliance on the controversial chip seal method of road resurfacing.

Overall, the group says the city needs nearly $30 million more annually in order to maintain its infrastructure, primarily roads, at a “good” level.
Any decision to increase the city’s current 1/8-cent special sales tax dedicated to infrastructure would ultimately have to be approved by voters, and the suggestion was one of several revenue-raising possibilities the group offered in a report discussed by the city council Monday.

The upshot: But City Manager Lori Curtis Luther cautioned councilmembers that any talk of addressing infrastructure concerns, including the use of chip seal, won’t go very far until the question of how to fund such work is answered.

Key quote: “Until and unless an additional funding stream is identified, it doesn’t provide a great deal of movement forward to debate these issues. We have to ensure that a revenue stream exists to make any changes that are substantive whatsoever,” Luther said.

Details: In order to increase funding, Overland Park’s Infrastructure Advisory Group recommended several different revenue-generating options, including renewing a citywide infrastructure sales tax and increasing it from 1/8 cent to 3/8 cent.

If the city were to increase the sales tax, it would produce an additional $15 million that could go towards infrastructure improvements, Luther told the council.
Other revenue options presented in the advisory group’s report and overviewed by Luther on Monday included increasing property taxes, increasing stormwater utility fee, increasing franchise fees, increasing excise taxes and expanding the debt financing of infrastructure.
But Luther said an increased in the special sales tax would be preferable to all those other options.
“In simplistic terms, if you’re looking at all of these options, excluding dedicated sales tax, in my mind, is not a feasible alternative,” Luther said.

Back story: In its findings initially shared with the city council in July, the advisory group, which was created last year in part as a response to residents’ ongoing chip seal complaints, found if no changes were made to how they city funded its infrastructure, then by 2040 city roads and other infrastructure would be “beyond its useful life.”

The report also highlighted residents dissatisfaction with chip seal, a method for road restoration that many residents have complained damages their cars and can be dangerous for pedestrians and cyclists if they fall on it.

Overland Park infrastructure group — Residents complain Overland Park’s method for road resurfacing is messy and dangerous for kids and bicyclists because it leaves behind sharp rocks. But city officials say alternative methods will cost more and could necessitate tax hikes. File photo.

By the numbers: In its report, the advisory group found that in order to maintain a “good” level of city infrastructure, an additional annual investment of $28.5 million per year would be needed.

Of that, the group recommended $22.5 million go towards increasing Overland Park’s street maintenance program.
That extra money would allow the city to use higher-grade rehabilitation and reconstruction methods int its annual repair of roads, thereby reducing the need for so much chip seal, which the city often presents as a cost-saving measure.
The advisory group also says the extra revenue would let the city use alternative road preservation methods on cul-de-sacs and residential streets, where chip seal complaints are often focused.

What’s next for Overland Park infrastructure?

The meeting concluded with members of the council recommending Luther and city staff look into the possibility of at least renewing the city’s sales tax, if not increasing it.

Staff will begin to develop a plan to hold a special election in the spring to consider both an extension and increase of the dedicated sales tax to fund infrastructure.