Money and accountability key to solving county road problems

By Mary Zielinski
More than 45 people showed up Monday to review options to find the approximate $10 million it will take to repair Washington County’s 700 miles of rural gravel roads. The public input meeting, arranged by the county Farm Bureau and conducted by county engineer Dave Patterson at the Washington County 4-H building, also was attended by all five county supervisors. It was considered a work session for the elected board.
The larger problem, explained Patterson, is not just bringing the roads back to the level of five years ago, but dealing with the heavier loads and greater traffic volume that will continue to take a toll on the roads.

We have to have accountability for ourselves

Even more, said Patterson, cost of maintenance has risen between 50 and 60 percent in the last five years, road construction jumped by 75 percent and right now the county is paying $600,000 more annually for fuel, salt/sand and equipment just do what it did five years ago.
As he noted, the meeting was called to get suggestions and options to address both the current problem and provide for a long-term solution. The results
ranged from implementing user and/or impact fees for heavy vehicles, creating public-private partnerships to maintain some roads to bonding for future road projects using LOST revenues to pay the indebtedness.
“Taxes will go up,” said county resident and farmer Kurt Dallmeyer, “The question is just where.” He added that “It gets back to us, we are a part of the problem,” listing how the weigh of ag vehicles with 130,000 pound loads well exceeds that of semi-trucks.
“We have to have accountability for ourselves,” he said.
He was responding to Supervisor Jim Miksch noting that if the LOST (local option sales tax) revenues are used to reduce bonding debt, property taxes will go up. Currently, the county has used LOST to provide property tax relief.
It was suggested that the county could seek funding from the Washington County Riverboat Foundation (WCRF) to help with the immediate problem. The WCRF, license holder for the Riverside casino, has distributed nearly $16 million in grants and municipal allocations throughout the county in the last two years.
Patterson, at the start of the meeting, said there is less state, federal and local revenue available, adding traffic volumes are different from 20 years ago. The traffic includes rural residences, especially an area south of Riverside, where a road went from 25 cars per day to more than 200.
Patterson added that many of the rural residents, who moved from urban areas, have “unrealistic” expectations about county roads, another issue that needs to be addressed.
In terms of practical solutions, suggestions are vacating or downgrading road classifications; embargoing certain roads; creating designated truck routes; prohibiting building on dirt roads; lobbying the state for an increase in the maximum levy for roads and for an increase in the road use tax and forming public-private partnerships to maintain segments of roadways.
A major approach would be “bonding for future road projects,” said Patterson, noting that “right now the interest rates are at a 30-year low.” LOST funds would repay the debt.
Other sources could be an additional tax on truck generating facilities, basically targeting heavy uses, but, said Patterson, “that is not legal right now.”
He said there could be additional tax revenue, part of which would go to secondary roads, from wind generator farms, now being contemplated for the eastern edge of the county.
There also were suggestions that new rural buildings be within a tax increment district (TIF) and TIF funds could be used for the roads.
When it comes to taxes, Patterson cited that what secondary road receives from the taxes on a $200,000 home is $204, and on a $500,000 ag building, when all exceptions are made, will generate $197 in taxes for secondary roads.
While solutions, options and finances are debated, delays result in maintenance and delayed maintenance leads to faster deterioration of the roads, noted Patterson.
None at the meeting criticized the county department for the work it has done; in fact, several told Patterson they thought he had done very well under the circumstances.
The suggestions, recorded by Farm Bureau executive director Terry Anderson, will be complied and sent to Farm Bureau members. Patterson said he expected there may be more public meetings.