It's pothole season right now in Spokane and this year is particularly bad.
Some rural gravel roads are in better condition than some of the streets in our town. Most of the potholes seem to be visible enough to where you can safely navigate them, but there are those hidden tire-eaters that seem to come out of nowhere and live up to their name. Popped tires, bent wheels, and whacked-out alignments can follow and those bills can add up. Do you have to pay for those damages? Maybe not.
If you feel the City of Spokane is at fault for the damage to your vehicle, you can file a claim. The process is pretty simple:
- First, go to the City's website and click the Claims link.
- From there, you need to fill out THIS FORM and have it notarized (the City has a certified notary at the City Clerk's Office that will do it for free). Be sure to include as much information as you can about the damage and about the pothole.
- After it has been notarized, you can either mail it to the City Clerk's Office (808 W Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane, WA 99201) or drop it off in person (same address, 5th floor).
The City will then look at your claim and decide if
1.) There was proper notification of the pothole that caused the damage (Report Potholes HERE or call 625-7733) and
2.) If there was enough time to fix it before you hit it.
How many of those claims have been successful? That's yet to be determined. KHQ has filed a request to see how many claims the City has paid out, but we have not yet received a response. We'll let you know when we do.
(story and photo: Cory Howard, Executive Producer Interactive, KHQ.com)