WORCESTER - Few people will argue that the condition of the city's streets and sidewalks leaves a lot to be desired. The problem is exacerbated this time of year, when potholes are popping up all over the place.

But no matter how hard the city tries to keep up with the maintenance and repair of its streets and sidewalks, it seems like a losing battle because not enough money is allocated each year for that purpose.

The long-standing question at City Hall has been how to pay for that work.

To boost the city's efforts, District 1 City Councilor Sean M. Rose is broaching the idea of leveraging $1 million of the city's unused tax levy capacity so $10 million can be added to the streets and sidewalks repair/reconstruction budget.

Mr. Rose has filed an order for Tuesday night's City Council meeting asking the city manager to report on the feasibility and financial ramifications of such a move, as part of what he is calling a Neighborhood Revitalization Plan.

He said the $1 million would enable the city to borrow $10 million for street and sidewalk work. The $1 million would be used to pay the annual debt service on such borrowing over 10 years.

While awaiting a report from the city administration on the impact of tapping the city's unused tax levy capacity for $1 million, Mr. Rose said his math suggests that property taxes will go up by about $15 a year for the next 10 years.

"We have had a lot of development going on downtown and we have focused quite a bit on busy arterials and heavy commercial traffic areas outside our neighborhoods," Mr. Rose said. "This $1 million that we can borrow against the levy will afford us $10 million that will be immediately dedicated to streets and sidewalks in the neighborhoods. The $10 million would be in addition to the current streets budget; it is not intended to replace it.

"This is not a novel idea," he continued. "There is precedent for having a plan like this. This $10 million will give us a much-needed reset on street and sidewalk repair, and that is why I am pushing hard for this to get done."

While money is set aside annually in the municipal budget for street and sidewalk repairs, it barely makes a dent in the backlog.

Back in 2010, the City Council agreed to increase taxes by $2 million by tapping into the city’s unused tax levy capacity, to finance a $20 million, multiyear program to address the condition of streets and sidewalks in residential neighborhoods.

Of Worcester’s 437 miles of public streets, public works officials determined at that time that 300 miles needed repair or resurfacing, at a hefty price tag of $130 million.

But because there has continued to be great demand for street and sidewalk repair since then, the city has been unable to keep up, and a multimillion-dollar backlog has built up.

Given the backlog, when residents petition the City Council for street or sidewalk repair, they often end up being put on a list that is subject to funding. That, in turn, leads to uncertainty as to when the work will get done.

Mr. Rose said he gets more calls from residents in his district about the condition of streets and sidewalks than anything else.

"It's really saddening for me to hear the consistent frustration from residents about street and sidewalk repair and to have to tell them that their street will be put on the resurfacing list, knowing that it'll be a long time before the city will get to it given our current budgets for it," he said. "We are allocated $1.2 million for streets and $120,000 for sidewalks. "

Mr. Rose emphasized that the $1 million he would like to see the city use would not be from its "rainy day fund," but rather from its unused tax levy capacity.

Under state law, the city can increase its annual tax levy by up to 2.5 percent over the previous fiscal year. But the City Council and city administration have worked jointly to hold the line on municipal spending over the years and have not taxed to the maximum allowed.

As a result, Worcester has some $18 million in unused tax-levy capacity – taxes that could have otherwise been assessed but the City Council chose not to. It is from that source that Mr. Rose is suggesting that the $1 million come.

"This leaves us room to pull out $1 million that will be rededicated to paying off the debt service for this $10 million," said Mr. Rose, who has been seeking to find ways to systematically increase funding for street resurfacing and sidewalk repair since he first got on the City Council last year.