Serious question, did anyone else see what our tax dollars actually go to?

I was digging through the city's public works budget online last night and found out they spend over $400,000 a year just on temporary patch materials for potholes. That's a ton of money for stuff that washes out after two rainstorms. Why aren't they just repaving the worst streets instead of throwing cash at quick fixes that don't stick?

3 comments

3 Comments

claire_grant3420d ago

But is it really cheaper in the long run though... @claire_davis31 I get what you're saying about bulk discounts, but $400k on patches that fail every season just seems like throwing money down a hole. Our street has been patched six times this year alone, and it's still a mess. A proper repave would cost more upfront but probably save money after two years of not having to redo the same spots over and over.

claire_davis3120d ago

Maybe the city gets a bulk discount that makes patches look cheaper than the real fix.

emmam8919d agoMost Upvoted

Yeah but bulk discount or not, you're still paying someone to slap a bandaid on a wound that needs stitches, right? @claire_grant34 you hit it on the head - a proper repave would probably pay for itself in a year or two if the patches actually held up that long. I say this as someone who's done enough half-assed DIY projects to know that cutting corners just means doing the job twice. My driveway is a perfect example of that - patched it three times last summer and now it looks like a patchwork quilt. A real fix would have been cheaper in the long run, but hey, I guess the city and I share the same stubborn streak.