SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Some new homeowners in Oak Park were surprised to receive an estimate of more than $2,400 to fix a crack in the sidewalk in front of their home.
"My first reaction was, I'm not paying it! I'd rather go to jail than pay this," said Andrew Seishes, who bought the home with his wife just 10 months ago.
Sacramento is one of many cities around the country to charge homeowners for sidewalk repair. The city offers three options: hire a licensed contractor, do the work yourself or have the city perform the repairs.
All three options come at the property owner's expense, and that cost is likely to rise, thanks to a fee hike in the city's proposed budget.
City leaders are looking to increase the sidewalk repair administrative fee from $40 to $80 in an effort to help close its $66 million budget deficit.
"The fact that they're going to increase it, that makes it 10-times worse," Seishes said.
To get a section of sidewalk repaired, someone has to file a complaint with the city.
Seishes realized this week that he received the notice from the city due to a mistake — someone had filed a complaint about Seishes' neighbor's property, and the inspector mistakenly thought it was his.
On the bright side, the city acknowledged this mistake, and Seishes won't be on the hook for that $2,400.
However, while on site, the inspector pointed out a crack on the sidewalk in front of his property.
"And so he estimated around $800-$1,000 for that little crack. Crazy," Seishes said.
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