The city has pooled $2 million from several city funds to pave more of its pothole-riddled and deteriorating roadways in 2013, which is four to five times more than has been invested in the past few years

“It’s an attempt to get some money out there on the street,” said Preston Combs, interim Public Works and Utilities director. “It’s not what we’d like or what we need, but it’s a lot better than what we’ve been doing.”

The city must invest at least $5 million a year for 20 years in order to just maintain the 600 lane miles of roads in the city, according to a recent study. Middletown residents have been complaining for years about the city’s crumbling streets, the poor image of the city they portray and the toll potholes have taken on their vehicles.

The city spent $400,000 in 2011 and $300,000 this year to pave roadways. Typically, the city would spend $200,000 to $500,000 a year on streets, but in some years, Combs said, the city spent nothing because of other needs.

About three-quarters of the city’s streets are in need of either resurfacing, repaving or, in a few cases, rehabilitation, Combs said.

The $2 million total comes from eight different funds and projects for 2013: $690,000 from the three utility funds; $420,000 from community development block grant money; and $275,000 from the auto and gas tax fund.

“I think we recognize that the roads, many roads, are in poor condition and we like to do as much as we can,” Mayor Larry Mulligan said. “We try to make it a priority and pull from areas of the budget that we can.”

Councilman Josh Laubach called the effort to invest more money into street repairs “a start.” And while he appreciates the work done by city staff, Laubach said “it’s nowhere near the level of funding that we need to have.”

But the fix to budget more money for road repair consistently without a tax initiative — something he will not support — is to fix what Laubach calls an “imbalance” with the city’s budget. He said most of the funding goes to pay personnel, pension and other “high-ticket” expenses.

“A fraction of the expenditures, as far as local funding goes, roads have been less than 5 percent, and that’s been that way for quite some time,” he said. “In the long term, the structural imbalance is going to be a problem. We’re sort of skidding by right now, but it’s going to be worse.”

The city had attempted in 2006 to pass a 0.75 percent income tax initiative to support roads, parks and emergency services, but it soundly failed.

City Manager Judy Gilleland said the $2 million is in addition to the regular crack-sealing, stripping and pothole repairs normally done by the city. However, there’s no guarantee that the city will be able to find $2 million in the budget every year to invest in street repairs.

“We’re going to be replacing water and sewer lines, it’s very logical that we use these funds to replace the pavement on top of those lines,” she said. “I cannot guarantee we can do that every year. But I know that’s of particular interest to council, staff as well.”

The city has not yet designated which roads will be improved in 2013, but criteria has been established, Combs said.

Streets that have a utility such as water, storm water or sewer lines in need of repair will be given first priority. Streets without curbs and gutters will receive second priority in order to keep costs down.

“We haven’t gotten into it, but at least two-thirds of the $2 million will be for those kinds of streets,” Combs said.

Combs said there could be two paving seasons in 2013 — one in the spring on roads without utility projects, and one in the fall after any potential utility work has been completed.