State gas tax aiding Santa Barbara street maintenance could be repealed

Tobe Plough spends time both driving and biking on Santa Barbara’s streets and according to him, the city’s road conditions are in rough shape.

“I’ve noticed a lot of cracks that will eat up my tires and throw people off,” Plough said. “So it’s something that needs improvement.”

The city is attempting to do work to improve its streets by fixing potholes, curbs and sidewalks. A lot the funding for that work comes from SB 1, a California state gas tax that went into effect this year.

Santa Barbara Street Operations and Infrastructure Manager Jim Dewey says SB 1 accounts for more than $2 million a year for the city’s road work, the equivalent of repaving 20 city blocks.

“[SB 1 contributes] a substantial amount of work,” Dewey said. “About one sixth of our capital investment in maintenance of the streets.”

There is a price to pay for that extra work: SB 1 has raised California gas prices 12 cents per gallon. A proposition on the ballot in November would repeal the gas tax and lower prices. Dewey says that the city has other taxes and funds that are used for street maintenance if the gas tax is repealed, but that it can’t completely make up for the loss.

“We’re still going to have a robust program regardless of SB 1 gets repealed or not,” Dewey said. “But we can do roughly 20 percent more work if SB 1 doesn’t get repealed.”

Plough says he’d rather more money be invested into the roads from local dollars, rather than relying on state funds.

“I’d like to see the city and county say they’re gonna step up and spend more money on the roads if they want this tax to continue,” Plough said.