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News Concerning ACCA's Road Legislation Makes Headlines...
www.TimesDaily.com
Mar 3, 2008
Maintaining rural roads
Officials say when it comes to road upkeep, there is never enough money
By Russ Corey, Staff Writer
Portions of Patrick Lane in Colbert County are in need of repair. Local officials agree that when it comes to maintaining roads, there is never enough money to go around.
Franklin County Engineer David Palmer describes efforts to maintain the county's roadways as a never-ending problem.
As soon as a portion of a road is resurfaced or an aging bridge is replaced, others take their place.
County engineers in Colbert and Lauderdale agree that when it comes to maintaining roads, there is never enough money to go around.
Lauderdale County, because of its population, receives more gas tax revenue, which is used to repair roads, than its neighbors, but it also has more miles of roads to maintain and repair.
"You never have enough money to do what you would like to do with roads," said Lauderdale County Engineer Ken Allamel.
A few years ago, the county could have resurfaced about 100 miles of rural roads with the same amount of money it will spend this year to resurface about 70 miles of road.
"The last couple of years we've had to cut back on resurfacing," Allamel said.
Part of the problem is the increased expense of materials used in road building, many of which are petroleum-based, as well as the cost to operate construction equipment.
Colbert County Engineer John Bedford said fuel and material costs have almost tripled since he became county engineer in 2000.
Not only that, workers' compensation costs have increased dramatically.
Allamel said the revenue Lauderdale County receives annually has not increased.
Bedford said his county does not plan to upgrade any roads this year because of the revenue situation.
"We're just in a maintenance mode," Bedford said. "We do a lot of strip patching to seal up the cracks and crevices. We're trying to put a Band-Aid on the roads, trying to make them last as long as we can."
Bedford said the county spends about $500,000 annually to maintain its roads.
Based on the 12- to 13-year average lifespan of a paved road, the five- to seven-year lifespan of a chip and tar road, and the 30- to 40-year average lifespan of a bridge, Bedford said the county should be spending about $3 million a year to properly maintain roads and bridges.
As traffic increases, roads tend to deteriorate quicker.
"The problem is there isn't enough funding to do the volume of work you need to get ahead," Palmer said. "You never get ahead."
He said today's counties operate on a "stop-gap" type of spending system because the counties do not have the financial means to operate a true maintenance program.
"You have to wait until it's completely torn up, and then you go fix it," Palmer said. "That's when it's most costly."
Palmer said he devised a strategic management plan in 2002 in which he created rehab cycles for the county's roads.
Franklin County used to be able to resurface 30 to 40 miles per year, but after a reduction in federal funding, the county can only resurface 16 to 20 miles.
In addition, revenue the county receives from gasoline taxes has risen little in the past 15 years.
In 1992-93, Palmer said the road department's base revenue was $2,134,000. In 2007-08, it's $2,216,000.
"It's not much of a difference," he said. "That's the problem. You go for long periods of time without much revenue increase."
Allamel said consumers should realize that gasoline taxes do not rise when the price of gas increases.
Colbert County engineering intern Jeremy Robison said a 7-cent gas tax is the same whether a gallon costs $1 or $3.
"It's a really, really bad situation we're in, and something has to be done quickly," Bedford said.
Bedford said he provides county commissioners a monthly report where he updates the condition of county roads and how much money there is to maintain them.
At some point in time, Bedford said, county governments will eventually have to investigate alternative sources of funding to be able to properly maintain their road systems.
In addition to the revenue it receives from gasoline taxes, Lauderdale County has a 2-cent-per-gallon gas tax that provides additional money for county roads.
"The county commission is very good to spend money from the general fund on roads," Allamel said. "Through the years that has helped as well."
Revenue-raising measures could include additional gasoline taxes, sales taxes or property taxes dedicated solely to road maintenance.
Thought unrelated to road maintenance, Bedford said a gasoline tax imposed to raise money to pay for a bond issue that was used to help build Colbert County's two Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail courses in Colbert County and the Marriott Shoals Hotel and Spa in Lauderdale County raises about $67,500 per month in Colbert County.
A half-cent sales tax added in 2007 to create an industrial development fund for Colbert and Lauderdale counties earns about $229,000 per month in Colbert County.
Bedford pointed out that Mobile County has a unique "pay as you go" program that utilizes funds generated from a 6.5-mill property tax. Projects are presented to the public, who then vote on which one they want to see completed, Bedford said.
Bedford said there is a bill that could be introduced during the legislative session that would extend home rule to counties and allow county commissioners to approve gas taxes of up to 8 cents per gallon for road maintenance.
Colbert County Commissioner Rex Burleson said he understands the need for more money for road maintenance. He would like to be able to raise additional revenue without placing it on the backs of the residents of Colbert County, he said.
"We can continue going to Montgomery and get money from them, which comes from the federal government," he said.
Robison said the county gets about $500,000 annually from the federal government but it can only be used for resurfacing roads.
"We're in a money crunch right now," Burleson said. "It all connects back to that thing they call the dollar. If you don't have it, you can't spend it."
Russ Corey can be reached at 740-5738 or russ.corey@timesdaily.com.
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