Fresno’s deferred maintenance on its roads has grown significantly over the years, totaling $1.2 billion at the latest count.
Now, Mayor Jerry Dyer is proposing a $100 million bond as part of his “Pave Now, Pay Later” plan to set his eventual successor up with better roads, albeit at a significant future cost.
Driving the news: Deferred maintenance on Fresno’s streets has only gotten worse from mayoral administration to mayoral administration, with recent numbers rising to $1.2 billion from around $500 million in just the last few years, per Public Works Director Scott Mozier.
- According to the Pavement Condition Index (PCI) – the rating that assesses road condition with a maximum of 100 – Fresno is estimated at 55 this year. That’s down from 72 in 2008 and 60 in 2021.
- At the same time, construction costs have increased drastically over the last four years, with the Dyer administration noting a 65% increase from the first quarter of 2021 to the first quarter of 2025.
- Dyer’s plan is to quickly get to work to pave roads with the bond within the next three years, with repayment starting in 2029.
- Fresno City Councilman Miguel Arias likened the plan to “No Neighborhood Left Behind,” a similar debt-led road improvement program initiated by former Fresno Mayor Alan Autry.
- The City undertook significant debt during the latter portions of Autry’s tenure. His successor, Ashley Swearengin, would be saddled with a failing national and local economy and spent much of her term avoiding municipal bankruptcy due to high debt.
- While PNPL would saddle the next mayoral administration with increased debt, Dyer’s position is that paving now would ultimately cut costs for future administrations by chipping away at the current deferred maintenance.
Zoom in: Such a bond could be issued as a lease revenue bond, which is paid for by the general fund and does not require voter approval, unlike general obligation bonds.
- Fresno currently has around $10 million to $15 million in lease revenue bond debt on the books for the next six years, with that number dropping to around $5 million in 2023.
- The current lease revenue bonds that are outstanding are for the exhibit hall expansion in 1998, Chukchansi Park in 2001, various capital projects issued in 2004, refinanced bonds in 2017 and the animal center in 2020.
What we’re watching: The city council did not take a vote on approving the $100 million bond on Thursday, instead asking the administration for possible proposals for a bond in the amount of $75 million, $100 million, $125 million and $150 million, which would be the maximum that the city could do.
- The council will bring the proposal back on June 12 for a final decision.
- City Manager Georgeanne White asked the council to look at the list of projects proposed by the administration (pictured below) to see which ones the city can jump on first.
What they’re saying: “I definitely don’t want to leave a future administration in debt, but at the same time I don’t want to leave a future administration with all this maintenance,” Dyer told the council. “I think that’s all of our dilemma here. We want to do what’s right while the time we’re in these chairs.”
