Residents in Columbia County neighborhoods generally seem to like speed humps. They've petitioned for, and received, hump installations all over the county, and demand continues to grow.
But now we might be able to see if those residents want them badly enough to pay for them directly.
The likely answer: No way, Jose.
Actually, residents already pay for them. The $110,000 budgeted this year for speed humps comes out of all county taxpayers' pockets - even those who live on rural dirt roads.
And county commissioners thus far have balked at the idea of paying for speed humps the same way street lights are funded: by establishing tax districts so the beneficiaries of the traffic-control devices would be the ones to pay for them, rather than passing along the costs to all residents.
Instead, commissioners recently decided that when the speed-hump installation fund runs dry, residents can pay for the $1,200 to $1,500 cost per hump themselves and the county will gladly install them.
It's a pretty ingenious idea, really. Experience demonstrates residents will clamor for amenities as long as they believe someone else is paying, so commissioners know demand will outstrip their supply of money.
But by putting in place a mechanism where privately funded humps can be built, commissioners are able to say, "We might be out of money, but you can still have those humps as long as you foot the bill."
Don't expect a line of applicants at the construction office.
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