After several years of watching the available dollars for road maintenance dwindle, local counties are thankful for the relief being provided by the state.
The Indiana General Assembly in the approved 2014-15 fiscal year budget provided $136 million to counties for roadwork.
Howard County is slated to receive an additional $755,167 in each of the next two years.
“We will do more paving,” Ted Cain, superintendent of the Howard County Highway Department, said Monday. “Hopefully we can get a few more miles done.”
The cost to pave a mile of county road surpasses $60,000, he said.
The cost to pave a mile of county road surpasses $60,000, he said.
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Some funds will be distributed after July 1 this year and the remainder over the next 18 months.
Tipton County is expected to receive $417,637 in each of the next two years.
Highway Superintendent Bret Morris said the money will be used to maintain roads.
“The biggest part will go into our chip and seal program,” he said. “We’ll get to things we haven’t gotten to in the past.”
Morris said Tipton County might pave short sections of county roads.
“I just hope they don’t take money away in another area,” he said.
The Miami County Highway Department will receive an additional $614,520 each year.
Highway Superintendent Sam Waltz said the more than 35 percent increase is a huge boost for the county, which has struggled to keep up with road maintenance.
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He added he was also glad legislators removed language from the state budget that would have required counties to pass a wheel tax in order to receive the additional money.
Miami County doesn’t have a wheel tax. County residents have turned down a wheel tax three times.
“It’s good to know this money is coming to us with no strings attached,” Waltz said.
In Cass County, the highway department is set to get an additional $666,912 for two years. That’s an increase Highway Superintendent Jeff Smith said is much needed, and more than doubles the county’s funding for roadwork.
He said the cost of road supplies has steadily increased over the years, but the county’s budget has remained stagnant, allowing for fewer and fewer repairs to roads.
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