Englewood Overview
June 3, 2015
Response from:
City of Englewood, CO Field Operations Administrator
Response format: Phone Interview
Where does funding come from?
The City of Englewood funds their sidewalk maintenance and repair with a homeowner opt-in fee that is paid into a “concrete utility fund,” which was put in place in 1997 to find a “budgetable funding mechanism to make sure homeowner can fulfill their obligation to fund concrete repair in front of their home.” There is a 95% participation in this system, which was put in place through a proposal to the City Council.
How is it implemented?
Homeowners are charged at a rate of $0.123/sf of concrete on the homeowner’s water bill. This fee does not pay for the needed repairs entirely. The City of Englewood owns and manages the water utility service for its residents.
How are repair and maintenance sites prioritized?
The City prioritizes the repairs with a rating system. They started with a 1-4 rating system, which resulted in too many “4” ratings to manage in the budget. Early estimated costs were over $1million in repairs. So they moved to 1-6 rating. 6 was deemed critical to facilitate repair work.
Additional notes.
People are happy when their property’s concrete is going to be fixed. Homeowners do express concern and displeasure when their sidewalk is not repaired. The homeowners are satisfied with a system that allows them to have a choice.
Only homeowners residing on a 50 foot interior lot participate. If a home is not in this kind of lot, the City subsidizes 70% of costs for sidewalk maintenance because lots like corner lots can incur damage by the City while conducting snowplowing in winter and it would not be realistic to expect the homeowner to pay for damage caused by the City.
If a homeowner does not participate in this program and requires sidewalk maintenance, the City issues a warning. If the homeowner does not repair the sidewalk, the City makes the repair and assesses a lien on the homeowner’s property to ensure payment.
Some rules that make this effective for The City of Englewood:
There are businesses like grocery stores and big box shops that would find this expense to be much more than doing their own repairs.
A homeowner may not drop out after they benefitted from a repair. This reasoning is similar to why people cannot get insurance only if they are sick. The participation of everyone pays for the sidewalks that some of the residents need.
When a tree is the cause for sidewalk damage, the City gives the homeowner the option of removing the tree paid for by utility and replacing it with a 2” tree or obtaining permission to cut the invasive tree roots, but with no liability to the City if the tree dies. The City has planted 40-50 replacement trees in just a few years.
This funding system was put in place through a proposal to the City Council. It was not put to a citizen vote.