BUDGET REQUEST:

Says budget proposal will seek big increase in funding for resurfacing

Mayor seeks big increase in spending on road resurfacing.

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Memphis Mayor A C Wharton said he’ll ask the City Council to approve a big increase in funding for road repaving in the annual budget he presents this month.

The current year’s budget calls for $9.5 million in core spending for road resurfacing. Wharton’s proposed budget for the fiscal year that starts July 1 would increase that amount to $15 million. Wharton announced the proposal Thursday evening at a town hall meeting in the high-ceilinged, echoing gym at the Whitehaven Community Center. A handful of citizens attended, and they were outnumbered by city officials and reporters.

The budget presentation April 21 likely will kick off weeks of contentious debate, and there is no guarantee the council will approve the budget in the form the mayor proposes. The city faces serious financial challenges, including a state mandate to increase contributions to its pension fund.

One factor could influence the council’s choice on road repaving: The government borrows money to fund this item, so it doesn’t compete directly with dollars for items such as employee salaries and the pension contribution.

In addition to the city’s core spending on road resurfacing, it’s scheduled this year to spend an additional $1.6 million to draw down $6.5 million in federal grant money. City Engineer John E. Cameron said it takes a long time for the city to obtain that grant money and that the city will still be working on it in the next fiscal year.

Wharton’s proposal comes on the heels of a winter that left Memphis roads cratered with thousands of potholes. The announcement is sure to be viewed in light of the October mayoral election, when Wharton will be seeking another four-year term as he faces several opponents.

Among them is City Council member Jim Strickland, who last year called for an increase in funds for road resurfacing. The council ultimately increased the budget for road resurfacing that year, but not by as much as he had originally suggested.

“Well, first, I think that’s great that he’s in agreement with some of us on the council that we needed more money for resurfacing,” Strickland said.

“It’s pretty obvious that six months before an election, he’s making all these changes in his administration,” he said, referring to staff changes. “But bottom line, I think that’s a step in the right direction.”

Regardless of what the City Council decides on future road spending, Cameron said the city would start work soon on $3 million worth of projects funded in the current year’s budget. They include these resurfacings:

Graves Road in Whitehaven from Brooks Road to Craft Road.

Winchester Road in East Memphis from Clarke to Perkins.

Adams Avenue in Downtown from Riverside Drive to Danny Thomas.

Mount Moriah/Mendenhall in East Memphis from White Station to Popl a r.

In the Hickory Hill neighborhood, Raines Road from Clarke to Hickory Hill.

Pendleton from Semmes to Ketchum near Orange Mound.