LORA KNIGHT / Scroll
Drivers head up and down the hill on Seventh South in Rexburg. While some in Rexburg feel roads are in good shape, others see need for improvement.

“I think generally speaking, our roads are in good standing,” said John Millar, the public works director for Rexburg.

However, according to polls conducted last April by Jason Allred, a freshman from Rexburg, 96.3 percent of Rexburg citizens believed that there is a maintenance problem with the streets.

Of that group, another 85.2 percent supported an increase in taxes to curb the problem. The poll surveyed 81 people from around the area.

“Drive down Seventh South and you’ll know that there’s a problem with road maintenance here,” said Miles England, a sophomore from Rigby, Idaho.

Seventh South, as well as other highly congested streets like First East, Second West and Second North, is strewn with potholes, cracks and dips, among other problems.

Rexburg, which boasts a population of nearly 26,000, has grown substantially since Ricks College became BYU-Idaho and many believe that such growth has affected the situation.

“It’s one of the fastest growing cities in the state,” Millar said. “With our tremendous growth rate comes increased traffic that provides more wear on the roads and brings along more cars. There’s also more congestion and the need to build more roads. We’re starting construction on a new road this spring. It has been planned to help alleviate a lot of the traffic from the growth of the city and university.”

The lack of funding for proper care and maintenance of the roads stems from the city’s relatively low property taxes. Millar said that a few years ago, the city established a low levy rate that prohibits increasing property taxes more than three percent each year.

However, road construction costs have gone up more than three percent.

“It’s a bad situation,” Millar said.

According to the Idaho State Journal, Rexburg’s mayor, Shawn Larsen “would like authority to impose a one-cent city sales tax, with voter approval…and use the money to fix Rexburg’s streets.”

Not everybody is OK with that proposal though.

“Our roads are still drivable. I’m not willing to pay any more money than I have to to fix something that isn’t broken,” said Lydia Johnson, a Rexburg resident.

Rexburg Police Captain Randy Lewis’ views on the roads are different.

“A lot of the roads are deteriorated. If you drive around, it’s obvious they’re falling to pieces. I think the roads are terrible here,” Lewis said.

He also believes that BYU-I is partially responsible for the shortfall in funding road maintenance.

“[BYU-I] is totally tax-exempt. They don’t contribute to the tax base. The city residents are picking up the slack. Don’t get me wrong, the university helps in other ways, but they are a burden in this way,” Lewis said.

Regardless of the population’s views on the situation, one thing remains undisputed.

“There’s always going to be money needed for streets,” Millar said.