If you have a sidewalk in front of your house, you might want to tuck away some extra money that's because more and more cash strapped cities and towns are hitting homeowners with bills, big bills, for sidewalk repair.
Sami Smith didn't think much of the sidewalk cracks in front of her home "there's a crack here..." until she received a letter informing her those cracks were her responsibility to fix. "It's going to cost me $450, it's going to cost my sister about $900," Smith said.
Sami, and her sister who lives down the street, say the cost will put a huge dent in their budgets.
"I'm watching out for my sister and the seniors and the disabled in the community who really can't afford any more money."
Sidewalks are something most of us don't think about when we are buying a house. but just to replace one sidewalk square can cost well over $100. Multiple squares? Start multiplying.
In a majority of communities homeowners must pay for sidewalk repairs. A recent survey of 82 cities found that:
- 46 percent require homeowners to pay.
- 40 percent will share the cost with homeowners.
- only 13 percent of cities will pay the full cost.
"The city's budget cannot sustain that," Tom Moeller tells me the city doesn't have the money but says it must be done.
"It's primarily a safety issue, you want people to be able to walk safely in the community. broken sidewalks do create trip hazards, and become a liability."
Last year, Ted Mathis was ordered to pay hundreds to repair a sidewalk that a city-planted tree had been pushing up.
"I just want them to take responsibility for the things they should do." But he too, was denied any help. So what can you do? First, skip the quikrete: most cities do not allow diy patching, as it will not meet code. However, a private concrete contractor often offers a lower price.
Make sure to check:
- home advisor
- the better business bureau, and
- angie's list.
As for the Sami, council will address the issue in an upcoming session to see if there is any help for her and her sister. "They're just sucking the money out of people who don't have the funds."
Finally, some homeowners tried suing their city over this. They didn’t get anywhere....and the cost of the lawsuit was more than the cost of repairing the sidewalk.
