Rufus Jeffris
Menlo Park is considering changing the way residents are charged for street cleaning in order to help the city pay its share of protecting San Francisco Bay against pollution from storm water run-off.
But the proposal has been criticized by two City Council members, one who says it could unfairly create higher taxes for residents and another who argues that the proposal doesn't go far enough.
On a 3-2 vote, the Council last Tuesday gave tentative approval to a plan that essentially would make residents pay 100 percent of the cost for street sweeping.
As it works now, the city's general fund covers about half of the $80,000 annual cost of the service. Residents, through the city's Landscape Assessment District, pay the other $40,000 in the form of a special parcel tax.
Under the city's plan, the amount residents are levied through the Landscape Assessment District would actually decrease by an estimated $12,000 annually.
But that amount, and the $40,000 the city currently pays, eventually would be charged to residents through a system of fees the Council tentatively approved in November to pay for a federally mandated program to combat pollution from storm water run-off.
In explaining the proposed shift, city officials said the job of sweeping up leaves, branches, garbage and other debris that collect on streets and in gutters is one way the city can meet requirements for reducing pollution to local creeks and the bay through storm drains.
Council member Jack Morris, however, said the proposed shift appeared to be a "sneaky" way to pass along the city's costs to residents.
The Council last year backed off from a plan to increase the levy charged through the Landscape Assessment District after residents made a similar accusation.
In a tense discussion, City Manager Jan Dolan attempted to assure Morris last week that this was not the intent of the proposal. Morris still voted against it.
Council member Gail Slocum also opposed the proposal. But Slocum argued that it did not go far enough in shifting costs. Slocum proposed moving the entire $80,000 annual street sweeping cost from the Landscape Assessment District and the city's coffers to the storm water run-off program.
Doing so, she said, would relieve the Landscape Assessment District of its $28,000 share for street sweeping and would free up that money to improve or expand the city's tree-trimming and street and curb repair programs. Slocum failed to win the support of any other Council members.
City staff members expect to return to the Council sometime in late March or early April for approval of a final plan to complete the shift.
Back up to the Table of Contents Page