PRESS RELEASE: Action Plan to Respond to Shortfalls in State Gas Tax RevenuesCity Commissioner Sam Adams announced today action items the Portland Office of Transportation (PDOT) will take in response to the impact of high fuel prices on Portland's transportation budget. Adams and PDOT officials addressed the fact that rising fuel prices are projected to generate $2.7 million less Gas Tax revenue in Fiscal Year 2007-08 than forecasted six months ago and see this trend continuing for the foreseeable future. The City's budget process required PDOT to make cost escalation estimates in October 2007 for a budget submitted in December 2007. Today's prices require substantial adjustments to those estimates. Adams outlined the following actions PDOT will take to deal with reduced transportation revenues: Evaluate all capital projects to ensure recent price increases are included, including the Flanders Street Crossing to insure integrity of the budgets
"Like all citizens, the City is aware of rising prices for fuel and other petroleum-based products. We have been monitoring the situation for several months," said Adams. "An increase in the price of fuel means an increase in costs for PDOT projects, not only for paving projects done in-house by our Transportation Maintenance crews but also for construction projects contracted out." Prices of fuel and other petroleum-based products have been steadily rising in recent years. The City is paying more for fuel and asphalt. The City's price for solid asphalt, which is a petroleum-based product, today is $45 per ton. A year ago the price was $36 per ton. Considering that the City's overlay crews use an average 600 tons of asphalt per day for 106 crew days, that's a big impact. "Certainly, this affects our choices. It affects everyone's choices - the City's and the individual resident's," said Adams. Although fossil fuels are woven into nearly every thread of the fabric of society, the transportation sector is the largest user of petroleum products. An estimated 38% of the total fuel consumption each year is used for transportation, with electricity being the second at 28%. The transportation sector includes every gallon of gas used to power each car or truck used every day to deliver us from point A to point B, to school, to work, or for errands. City Fleet has seen an average cost increase of 32% per year for fuel in recent years. If the price of petroleum continues to go up, the City won't have a lot of options, say Adams and PDOT officials. Areas of concern include the following:
"An increase in the price of petroleum means it's more difficult for us to get our work done, meet our street paving goals, and manage construction projects. Rising petroleum costs will reduce the miles of streets paved this year and beyond," said Adams. Costs of construction projects have been steadily increasing in recent years due to rising prices of major materials. The following material costs have risen 10-25% in the last few years and are expected to continue to rise over the next few years:
PDOT has implemented a range of measures aimed at reducing its oil use in day-to-day operations and the general public's oil consumption. The City has adopted best practices around using recycled materials. The Sunderland Recycling Facility in northeast Portland, for example, crushes asphalt and concrete into reusable rock that City crews use in maintenance projects. "We are using sustainability as a tool to reduce long-term costs on all new projects," said Adams. The City has purchased Hybrids, implemented the ZipCar partnership program, purchased bio-diesel fuel, and implemented new technologies to defray the costs of fuel. The City also partners with other government agencies in the region sharing resources to reduce costs. In the past few years, powerful evidence has emerged that casts doubt on the assumption that oil and natural gas will remain plentiful and affordable. The evidence suggests that global production of both oil and natural gas is likely to reach its historic peak soon. This phenomenon is referred to as "Peak Oil." In March 2007 Portland became the first government body in the U.S. to acknowledge imminent peak oil as a reality and to release a plan for what the city should be doing to cope with the years ahead. A resolution was adopted by City Council that calls for cutting oil consumption in Portland in half by the year 2030. Posted Wed, 05/07/2008 - 9:54am.
Uh, what happened? We hadSubmitted by Steve on Wed, 05/07/2008 - 6:01pm.
Uh, what happened? We had $30M+ surplus revenue two years in a row. So, now we are to returning pop bottles? Simple solution, prioritize the things like road repair and police. A bike bridge is NOT a priority and it will cost way more than $5M. Even Sam's boss, Vera, knows that and is against the bridge. » reply
FLASH NEWS ALERT...THIS JUST IN...Submitted by Mister Tee on Wed, 05/07/2008 - 6:23pm.
BREAKING NEWS FLASH... The price of construction materials and energy have been increasing rapidly for 3-4 years. Gasoline consumption has been relatively flat for the past 10 years (in Oregon), barely keeping pace with poplution growth. Cars are more fuel efficient and people are using less at the price of gasoline skyrockets. BREAKING NEWS FLASH...Credit: Commissioner Sam Adams » reply
Yet another sound bite Press ReleaseSubmitted by Terry Parker on Thu, 05/08/2008 - 7:58am.
Most working class people are feeling the pinch from high energy prices, high food prices and yes, high government taxes, especially in Portland where the basic cost of living far exceeds the surrounding areas. Now it seems the City has come round to not only feeling the monetary pinch, but also feeling the chorus of disapproval from the public about how their tax dollars are being consumed. The postings and criticism from the general public on the blogs that I read and elsewhere have been overwhelmingly opposed to the reckless extravagance of spending taxpayer money to relocate the old Sauvie Island bridge over I-405 at Flanders Street. Sam’s decision to pull the plug is as much due to the public’s protest over this issue as it is over budgetary concerns. The unpredictable cost overruns was an escape route Sam. Credit the public for forcing Sam into the announcing cancellation of this project. What is needed now is for PDOT to get back to basics instead of continually using the credit card to finance high profile projects and passing on the debt, often reoccurring debt, to future generations. Sustainability starts with financial self-sustainability. Given the costs of construction and environmental effects of construction, often times the most sustainable practice is to maintain what is already in place. That said, the Burnside Couplet, the Eastside Streetcar, other streetcar planning and the proliferation of congestion creating curb extensions ought to go the way of the afore mentioned bridge relocation project – be cancelled. In addition to establishing a bicycle tax so bicyclists share the costs with motorists of maintaining transport infrastructure, PDOT needs to concentrate on maintaining existing infrastructure and not adding to the consumption of infrastructure by creating something different. Additionally, speaking, Eric is on the right track. If Sam and others expect Portland residents to change their transport habits, the City as an employer MUST lead by example. In other words, all city inspectors and personnel in all bureaus while on the job would be required to use transit or travel by bicycle. The city fleet of motor vehicles would be downsized using only American made products and the Fire Bureau would respond to medical emergencies using motor scooters with sidecars and scoot boots for equipment and supplies instead of fuel consuming large rigs. The conversation could go on, but I think the message is clear. The Portland city government as a whole needs to reel in its own extravagant spending habits and get back to the core responsibility of providing basic services to the citizenry. The people of Portland are tightening their belts, now it is the City’s turn. » reply
Gas TaxesSubmitted by Scott Fredricks on Tue, 05/13/2008 - 3:10pm.
As gas prices go up people use less gas and therefore the State and City get less gas tax revenue. I know the State sets the gas tax rates and they have not increased them for many years. If this issue is going to be addressed in the future they should make the gas tax a percentage of the price of a gallon of gas. There would be some issue with having to recalculate the tax rate when prices change, but that should not be a major issue with computers to do the calculations. If the tax was a percentage, the State and City would collect more per gallon when the price went up, which shoud offset the fact that fewer gallons were being sold. If gas prices go down, people will drive more so the lower tax per gallon will be offset by more gallons being sold. I think this would result in a more consistent level of revenue from the gas tax. » reply
Post new comment |
NavigationGet Our UpdatesRecent blog posts
Sam's Snapshots
Recent comments
 Popular contentToday's:  Syndicate |
Home |
Sam's Calendar |
Sam's Priorities |
Sam's Portfolio |
I Want To... |
Your Neighborhood |
Archives
PRINT
""We are using
""We are using sustainability as a tool to reduce long-term costs on all new projects," said Adams. The City has purchased Hybrids, implemented the ZipCar partnership program, purchased bio-diesel fuel, and implemented new technologies to defray the costs of fuel. The City also partners with other government agencies in the region sharing resources to reduce costs."
No, the City of Portland is spending MORE money than it needs to, by buying Hybrids and so on and so forth.
Why can't city employees use our existing public transit system - the vast network of TriMet busses and MAX trains - for necessary city travel?
It comes at no additional cost to the City of Portland and would allow the City to reduce a substantial number of motor vehicles in its fleet - thereby saving a LOT more money. Purchasing hybrid vehicles takes a long time to recoup the cost in saved fuel - and often takes longer than the 100,000 miles that the City drives before it retires a fleet vehicle. (Is there a city policy that hybrid vehicles must be kept in the fleet until 200,000 miles?)
I can only imagine that Sam Adams and the City doesn't like to rely on TriMet's busses because the City is biased against the bus system as an important vehicle for 2/3rds of Portland's transit ridership. Busses aren't sexy to stand in front of for an election year photo op. The city could save a lot of money simply by stopping all new motor vehicle purchases; requiring that all vehicles be the "cheapest" vehicle required (that means that CityFleet should have a lot of Ford Focuses in the fleet) and they should only be purchased for those employees who absolutely, positively, cannot use TriMet busses.