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Frequently Asked Questions
Common FAQ's
These are questions normally asked about the Public Works Department.
- What is right-of-way
- Right-of-way (ROW) is land which is owned by the City to provide a location for the construction of streets and utilities. Typically, the width of public ROW is 50 feet, 60 feet, or 66 feet, although other widths may occur. ROW is always wider than the street. If a 50 foot wide ROW has a 26 feet wide street, then there would be an area 12 feet wide behind the curb on both sides of the street which is city owned. Property owners should not encroach upon public ROW with fences and walls as this conflicts with the use of ROW for utilities.
- How is street maintenance funded?
- Street maintenance such as pothole filling, street cleaning, pavement repair, street lighting and snow plowing, is funded by annual allocations of Road Use Tax Fund (RUTF) received from the State. The revenue is collected by the state as a gasoline tax. The money is distributed back to local government in accordance with a state legislature determined formula. Currently, the City receives $85.10 per capita. Based on the 1990 census this amounts to approximately $ 4.7 million per year. The miles of streets or conditions of those streets have no bearing on the amount of RUTF distributed to cities. Thus, the level of maintenance which Council Bluffs' streets receive is a function of the population of the City, not the need for maintenance.
- How are property taxes used for Public Works?
- First of all, the property tax bill consists of a city levied portion, a county portion, and a school district portion. The City's "share" of a property tax bill is around 43%. On a residential home with an appraised value of $100,000, total tax bill would be about $2035. The City portion would be $875. Of this amount, Public Works is budgeted 22% or $189 per year. The $189 is used to make payments on debt from borrowed monies, that is, general obligation bonds. The general obligation bonds are used to finance major infrastructure projects in the city's Capital Improvement Program. The City has been averaging between $4 million and $5 million per year in GO Bonds. Property taxes support about 1/3 of the annual Capital Improvement Program expenditures.
- What is the 1 cent local option sales tax used for ?
- Implemented in 1991, the local one cent sales tax has had the single biggest impact on improving the city's infrastructure in the city's history. Lack of funding for maintenance and replacement during the 60's, 70's, and 80's left the city with a huge backlog of needs in 1991. Comprehensive inventory and analysis studies have enabled the City to prioritize cost effective rehabilitation of the city's sewers with the use of sales tax funds. In the last ten years over $55 million has been spent on replacing over 30 miles of the City's problem sewers and streets. Without the use of sales tax monies, the city's infrastructure rehabilitation would be significantly reduced or the cost would have to be shifted to property tax bond revenues.
- What are the sewer fees on the waterbill used for ?
- The sewer use fee included on your water bill is used to fund operation and maintenance of the sanitary sewer collection system and treatment plant. No property taxes are used to finance these operations. The sewer use fees collected must be adequate to fund the sanitary and storm sewer operations. (However, the expense of replacement of sanitary sewer pipes in the collection system is funded by sales tax and general obligation bonds.)
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