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Business & Tech

Money Well Spent

Sometimes you've got to give a little to get a little.

Property values rise and fall due to a variety of factors. It’s not just the big three – location, schools and crime – that determine the desirability of a city or neighborhood. There’s a whole list of ingredients that go into the recipe, and like the making of sausage, sometimes you don’t want to see everything that goes into the final product.

So it is that Burlingame residents find themselves considering proposals to raise funds needed for infrastructure and streetscape upgrades on Burlingame Avenue. The most pleasant shopping district on the Peninsula is long overdue for some water and sewer improvements. The road surface itself, bad enough to be likened by Vice Mayor Jerry Deal in a recent   “a toboggan ride,” could also use some attention.

The city council has already worked out a plan to pay for $4 million of water and sewer improvements. Streetscape improvements, including road resurfacing, draining upgrades and landscaping work, will cost an extra $9 million if done in conjunction with infrastructure upgrades. Done separately, the projects would cost much more.

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Everyone agrees that work must be done. What’s not as clear is how Burlingame will raise the money to pay for it. The city can foot part of the bill using its capital improvement fund and anticipated Measure A grant funds, but it will still need to raise the balance – several million dollars’ worth.

So far, the city has two ideas: a special assessment district and raised parking meter fees. Otherwise, it can scrap the streetscape and focus only on infrastructure, something no one at a recent meeting between city staff and the Burlingame Avenue Downtown Business Improvement District wanted to do. Response to the alternative – the special assessment and increased parking costs – was positive, with a few holdouts.

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In times such as these, when even popular cities like Burlingame run in the red (it’s working with an $8 million budget shortfall), it’s more difficult than usual to convince residents and local businesses to accept a new tax for things as unsexy as upgraded sewers and repaved streets. It’s like buying a new roof or a new furnace-you spent a big chunk of money, and your house looks exactly the same. All pain, no (visible) gain.

Even so, homeowners need to look past the obvious and consider that pothole-free roads and functioning sewer systems are part of what gives their property value. Of course, it’d be more fun to spend that money on jazzed up parks or sweet new vintage-looking streetlights – or not spend the money at all. In this case, though, Burlingame should find a way to fund these improvements. Humankind can not live solely on pizza and ice cream. Sometimes there must be beets.

Consider your home’s value not as something independent from its community at large. Take the scenario in which your neighbor’s new landscaping by proximity increases the value of your home, and extrapolate it to include all of Burlingame. Think of property value as something holistic. A downed eucalyptus tree on El Camino Real will impact the worth of a home on Balboa Avenue.

It shouldn’t be difficult because you’re already doing it. You take for granted the impact public school quality has on your home. This is the same, just not as flashy.

Burlingame Avenue is one of the region’s most popular shopping spots. Driving down it shouldn’t feel like riding in a toboggan.  More importantly, Burlingame Avenue is an amenity – as are trees and storm drains. When they all work, everyone benefits, making them worth the extra cost required for improvement and maintenance.

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