New Year, New Tax

i’m greg miller, in for james. and i’m heather skold. first up tonight – the new year means new rules and a new tax you’ll paying. the city’s pothole tax goes into effect tomorrow – six extra cents for every ten dollars you spend. but new at ten, not everyone’s confident the pothole promise will be fulfilled. nats car driving by. potholes plagued drivers in 2015. doug: have you ever seen roads this bad? no. never. doug evens has to drive over them every day. doug: they’ve just got downhill and there’s no relief in sight. greg standup: a lot of cars pass through quivera and verde, and he tells us city crews have been out here every year to repair them. but he’s not convinced a new tax is going to change anything. doug: they did some work, but a majority of the streets in town are shot. down on the south and southeast side, they are really rough. but mayor john suthers says that will change. suthers: it was something that needed to happen. no one should be surprised. it needed to happen to quickly. it was one of his biggest victories in november – the passing of ballot measure 2c … a road tax which means for every ten dollars you spend – you’ll pay an extra six cents in taxes for roads. skeptics during the campaign said they were afraid the money wouldn’t go to roads – but suthers refuted that. sot:”it’s the job of the city auditor on an annual basis to make sure every cent that’s collected for those segregated taxes goes into those funds and is spent for what they’re intended for.” he cites specific ballot language which guarantees the money go directly to roads – and an auditor whose job it is to see that happen. while not everyone agrees – sot: in the next few months, we’re going to have that same hole again. everyone will have to pay as 2016 rings in. 65 percent of voters passed the measure in november. groceries, gasoline and prescription drugs are exempt from this tax – it’s expected to raise fifty million dollars every year for five years. the city estimated it would cost a typical family one-hundred dollars every year. many people are hoping the clouds will clear for tonight’s fireworks show on pike’s peak… the adaman club has made it’s trek to the top.. and will be setting off those fireworks at midnight.. this picture, from lars leber, is from last years celebration will we get see it this year though? rachael plath is tracking your new years eve forecast..