Fund Sidewalk Maintenance

Sidewalk maintenance is a basic service of municipalities and should be funded by all taxpayers, not just adjacent property owners.

Sidewalks in the City of Atlanta have been neglected for decades.

Broken pavers create tripping hazards and block access to wheelchair users.The City Code makes sidewalk maintenance the responsibility of adjacent property owners.  Elected officials, however, lack the political will to enforce this policy.  The annual budget includes no funding for sidewalk maintenance or enforcement, which ties the hands of Public Works officials. During the past four years, the City has collected just $200,000 from property owners for sidewalk repairs.

As a result, pedestrians encounter crumbling and uneven sidewalks throughout Atlanta. Public Works Commissioner Joe Basista estimates that 25 percent of the City’s sidewalks need to be repaired or replaced. The estimated cost is $80 million.

Sidewalks are public assets.

The use of public money to build sidewalks makes sidewalks public assets, just like the streets. The City doesn’t ask property owners to repair potholes on streets adjacent to their lots. Likewise, it shouldn’t delegate sidewalk maintenance to abutting property owners.

Delegating responsibility to property owners increases maintenance costs.

Damaged sidewalks often span multiple properties on the same block. Repairing these sidewalks in a piecemeal way is far more expensive than fixing them on a block by block or neighborhood basis. Trying to get property owners to repair sidewalks also adds significant administrative costs, since property owners rarely make repairs on a voluntary basis.

Delegating sidewalk maintenance to property owners is unfair to property owners and to pedestrians.

Good walking conditions are one of the most important elements of livable communities and benefit everyone. Yet maintenance costs vary considerably, due to tree roots, illegal sidewalk parking, or other factors beyond the control of property owners. People who live on corner lots should not have to pay double. Most important, pedestrians should not have to endure hazardous sidewalks wherever property owners cannot afford to hire a contractor.

Bond funding is needed to address the enormous backlog of broken sidewalks.

Atlanta residents deserve an opportunity to decide whether to replace the City’s dysfunctional sidewalk maintenance program with one that is funded by taxpayer funds. A  bond referendum that includes at least $40 million for sidewalk maintenance needs to be included on the ballot in the next general election.