Our View: Havre city officials face tough decisions ahead

In coming weeks, Havre city officials will be looking at the possibility of a major infrastructure renovation project. It calls for improvements for streets and perhaps sidewalks and stormwater systems.

Over the next 20 years, city officials said, they could spend as much as $100 million to improve all the streets and sidewalks that now need or will need repairs.

Anyone who drives on Havre streets or walks on sidewalks realizes that there is a need for some major fixes. It’s not quite as obvious, but there is also need for repairs to stormwater drainage systems. You don’t see those needs until it’s too late.

The good thing about this kind of massive endeavor is that it would bring the city up to snuff and it would provide lots of construction jobs that would give a boost to the city’s economy.

The bad part is that it would cost the taxpayer with a $100,000 home more than $800 a year.

That, council members decided, would make it very difficult to get the approval of city voters. The tax increase would have to be OK’d in a referendum.

So now they are looking at a reduced $1.5 million-a-year plan that would concentrate on improving streets.

That would stop city streets from deteriorating and might help move things forward a bit. But it would still cost about $250 for every owner of a $100,000 home.

That will cause a problem for many, such as younger families with children and for older homeowners living on a fixed income, the two groups which account for much of Havre’s property owners.

Many homeowners would be paying the money with no guarantee that their streets in their neighborhood would be repaired.

The apprehension of many people is easily understood. That’s a lot of money, and it will cause hardship to lots of people.

But the alternative is what?

The city we love is falling apart. And no, it’s not the fault of this or previous administrations. Just about every city in the country — large and small — faces similar problems.

The nation’s infrastructure is equally abysmal. Everywhere you look, bridges, highways and sewer systems are in terrible shape.

It’s tempting to look the other way and hope for the best.

But conditions will just get worse, and the cost of repairs will just get higher.

To those who will have a hard time making it with the necessary tax hike, our hearts go out to you.

But the onus is on people against the plan to come up with a better solution.

The city administration faces the difficult task of deciding whether to hike taxes and make it difficult for many people or to let the city deteriorate further and drive young people away from this special community.

To people against spending that much money on repairs, we urge you to come up with a better plan.