Mayor Eric Garcetti announced a series of cost-saving initiatives Wednesday that would enable the Bureau of Street Services to get 200 more miles of streets resurfaced this year.
Garcetti said his “Street Smart” initiatives would “squeeze more miles out of every dollar we spend” and better coordinate city departments involved in paving the city’s streets.
The mayor’s budget for fiscal year 2014-15 already included funding that added 200 miles to the 2,000 miles paved last year; so his cost-savings package would result in a total of 2,400 miles of streets paved this year, city officials said.
The ideas, many of which were introduced by City Councilman Joe Buscaino today, include recovering the cost of damage done to streets, utilities, the city and other agencies that do excavation work, and getting parking lot owners who do not pay city business taxes.
Capital improvements at the city’s asphalt plant would save up to $5 million in material costs, city officials said. City staffers from various city departments involved in paving also would meet regularly to discuss and prioritize projects.
The city also would impose a ban on cutting into streets that were resurfaced within three years.
Buscaino, who led a failed effort to get a half-cent sales tax measure on the November ballot aimed at funding street repairs, said “people want their government to work well, and they want their leaders to work together.”
“They will reward good management and smart fiscal policies by approving revenue measures at the ballot box,” he said. “The recent passage of the state water bond is proof of that.”
The mayor’s plan echoes recommendations made by city Controller Ron Galperin, who found the Bureau of Street Service’s street paving programs were inefficient, and the amount of street repairs were often misreported.
— City News Service