By Cindy Schroeder
Enquirer staff writer

VILLA HILLS - Residents could be asked to vote on a special street tax this fall to repair and replace about 30 miles of aging city streets.

IF YOU GO

What: Vote on proposed street tax of 85 cents per $1,000 assessed property value When: 7 p.m. today Where: Villa Hills City Council meeting, city building, 719 Rogers Road.

City Council will vote tonight on the proposed tax, which would cost the owner of a house assessed at $100,000 another $85 a year, Mayor Mike Sadouskas said. Before council votes on the tax increase, residents will have a chance to tell city officials what they think.

If council puts the tax on the Nov. 2 ballot and voters approve it, collections would begin in fall 2005.

"Our residents' No. 1 concern is the condition of the streets,'' Sadouskas said. He said Amsterdam Village and Prospect Point were built in the mid- to late-1970s and many city streets are more than 25 years old.

Some streets need to be replaced, while most concrete streets need an asphalt overlay, Sadouskas said. "It's a timing thing, the cycle of concrete life,'' he said.

City Engineer David Whitacre recently told council's Public Works Committee that it would cost more than $700,000 a year to do the needed street replacement and maintenance work. That's more than double what the city spends now.

If the proposed tax is approved by voters, it would raise about $400,000 a year, Council Member Bob Krems said. If the tax is approved, city officials have said they would repeal Villa Hills' annual license fee tax of $8.50 per car that generates about $45,000 a year.

All of the money raised by the street tax also would go into a restricted fund that could be used only for street repairs and maintenance, Sadouskas said. Council also is recommending that the street tax run for 10 years.

"The thought was that it would be revisited after 10 years. The future council and mayor could decide whether enough work has been done and whether they need to ask voters to continue,'' Sadouskas said.

With few businesses, the city of 7,948 has few options for raising money for street repairs, Krems said. "I think the voters should have the ultimate opportunity to decide what kind of streets they want,'' he said.