A fork in the road-is the County funding it properly or will the residents foot the bill?
Road & Bridge
Road & Bridge
During this presentation, we learned that the new impact fees will “barely scratch the surface” of the overall cost; consequently leaving the county in a major deficit to bring county roads up to the new adopted standard. The County is short of $200 million dollars needed to bring the roads up to the new standard. Impact fees will only cover around 20%, so how will the remaining 80% be funded? In addition, the $200 million is ONLY for capital improvements; it doesn’t cover the maintenance of our roads which are already underfunded.
As our only way of commuting, Road & Bridge is a fundamental part of our county and one of the most significant infrastructures. It’s important to me that we’re funding it properly, that we’re getting the value out of that funding, and that we have the best possible roads around.
Taking Action
Taking Action
- I believe one of the biggest impacts on our roads is directly related to the tourist season. The only financial revenue from tourism is through sales tax, not property assessment because most don’t reside in La Plata County. What if there was a way to ear tag more funding for Road & Bridge from the sales tax we are already collecting from tourism?
- When it comes to funding and maintenance cost, I think we need an outside of the box approach. I would like to look into allowing local contractors the opportunity to bid on maintaining and blading sections of the road and even snow removal to see if it’s more cost effective than always doing so in house. I would like to see the tax dollars collected by our local government turned back around to benefit local businesses. If it turns out we can do so in a more cost effective way, then maybe the county could focus on capital improvements such as paving, chip and seal, culverts, and bridges.
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Paul Black's Plan
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