Cities Hold Joint Open House to Discuss Gas Tax, July 27

On Tuesday, August 2nd, the Cities of Coos Bay and North Bend will host an Open House at 11:30 am at the North Bend City Council Chambers to discuss current street conditions and the four cent gas tax recommended by both Councils. Both cities have significant backlogs of road maintenance projects, created by historically flat revenues and continually increasing costs. This Open House will allow staff to explain the specifics of current street conditions to outline the funding necessary to maintain this infrastructure at a minimum standard, and to answer questions from the public. The original five cent proposal discussed during 2015 has been amended to four cents per gallon in response to citizen input on the issue, and the “card-lock” stations used by commercial trucks have been excluded from the draft ballot measure. The City of North Bend will vote to put the gas tax measure on the ballot at their meeting on August 9th while Coos Bay will consider the measure on August 16th.