City paving list leverages state funds
State funds will pay for more than three-fourths of the $989,807 the city allocated to overlay 7 miles of its
300-mile street inventory this year.
The General Fund will provide $386,386 toward the 2018 paving list the Hot Springs Board of Directors approved Tuesday night, with $300,000 coming from the current year’s budget and the balance provided by carry-over funds from the $993,000 appropriated for last year’s paving projects.
The board awarded the 2018 paving contract to Cranford Construction in February. Work is scheduled to begin later this year.
The city is directing $358,000 of the $740,000 it is expecting to receive in 2018 Connecting Arkansas Program turnback funds. The 10-year, half-cent state sales tax voters approved in 2012 funds CAP.
The city allocated $598,500 in CAP turnback funds for last year’s paving, but all of the almost $1 million
2017 paving budget was ultimately paid from the city’s per capita share of the $54.6 bond issue county voters approved in June 2016. The city received $7.3 million from the debt issue, which is secured by a five-eighth-scent countywide sales tax.
State Aid City Street program money rounds out the 2018 paving budget, providing $245,421 to overlay Fox Pass Road from Park Avenue to the county line and Seventh Street from Hobson Avenue to Emory Street.
Ten of the 27 streets on the primary paving list traverse board District 1. It spans the city’s northern precincts and has the most streets on this year’s list. It was awarded four paving projects last year.
District 2 in the central part of the city has seven streets on the list, including Liberty Street. City Engineer Gary Carnahan told the board last week that utility work knocked Liberty off earlier lists.
Utility work schedules are part of the criteria used to develop the list, as the city tries to avoid paving streets that are scheduled for underground utility work.
District 4 in southwest Hot Springs has five streets
scheduled for paving after landing nine on last year’s primary list. District 3 in the western corporate limits has four streets on this year’s list, and District 6 on the east side has one.
Six District 5 streets were paved last year but none are on this year’s primary list.
The board also approved an alternate list covering 2.94 miles. Streets on the alternate list get paved if funds are left over from the primary list. Carnahan told the board it costs about $140,000 for a one-mile overlay.
The city noted the lack of a road millage levied by Garland County has reduced the city’s paving budget by $350,000 a year. The county hasn’t levied road mills since the 2013 tax year, reducing the city’s paving budget by more than $1 million over the last four years.
The state tax code requires cities and counties to share the proceeds from road millages levied in the incorporated area of counties, but the Garland County Quorum Court shifted the
1.2 mills it had levied for roads to a General Fund millage in 2014.
Counties can levy up to 3 mills for roads, but cities are prohibited from assessing a road tax.
The board approved the following streets for the 2018 primary paving list:
• Ashland from Westbrook to Harrell.
• Augustus from Albert Pike to W. St. Louis.
• Bess from Seventh to Summer.
• Bolton from Prospect to Quapaw.
• Camelot from Brandt to cul-de-sac.
• Carson from Hillwood to Belding.
• Dawer from Hagen to W. Maurice.
• Emmett from Hagen to Garland.
• Fleet from Leonard to Emory.
• Fox from Garfield to Henry.
• Gold from Ozark to dead end.
• Hagen from Central to Emmett.
• Hagen from Emmett to Murray.
• Lakeshore from McLeod to 600 feet west.
• Liberty from Federal to Dawer.
• Linwood from Hobson to Greenwood.
• Maplewood subdivision.
• Ozark from Water to Gold.
• Phillips from Albert Pike to W. St. Louis.
• Polk from E. Grand to Sims.
• Ridgeway from Bellaire to county line.
• Roanoke from Ozark to Jasper.
• Slaiten from Morgan to dead end.
• Treva from Albert Pike to dead end.
• Walnut from Juniper to Robin.
• Willowbrook from Sunglow to Freida.
• Willowbrook from Freida to Woodlawn
• Fox Pass from Park to county line.
• Seventh from W. Grand to Emory.