BEND, OR -- The Bend City Council will hold a special meeting Monday evening, to discuss the findings of the Street Maintenance Funding Committee. The 12-member citizen panel concluded that an income stream, like a gas tax or transportation utility fee, is needed to improve roads.

Bend City Councilor Sally Russell says the committee agrees a gas tax will inevitably be part of the solution. "We look at those stats, what it would cost per household, is much less than other solutions where we wouldn't have to go to voters and it would land on the same backs of the same individuals who are paying either their property tax bills or their utility bills. I'm a fan of this particular tool simply because I think it spreads it so much more equitably across the people who are actually using our roads on a daily basis."

She tells KBND News the longer we wait to fund the needed work, the more expensive it will be. "It's not a matter of choice; it's a matter of how you do it. I think this really bright, very philosophically diverse group came to that conclusion. And, it's going to come to Council and we're going to have some tough conversations. But, the good news is we have a lot of information that has truly been vetted by a very critical group of citizens."

The City Council meets at City Hall, beginning at 6 p.m.