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Judge Gabbard Discusses Flood Damages and Road Funds
Flooding has consumed the majority of our time the past couple weeks. Damages to bridges, culverts and roadways were reported in all areas of the County. County EM staff as well as Road Department staff and Magistrates have spent several hours in various ends of the County surveying damage and opening up what they could so traffic and citizens could move as safely as possible. We declared another State of Emergency since the majority if our County saw rain totals upwards of 5 inches and more over a 4-day span. EM staff have been meeting with FEMA representatives in order to hopefully get some reimbursements heading our way.
No one knows when a disaster will come. You can prepare as best you can but financially it can be devastating. The road fund of the Fiscal Court does not have the money to repair what we have seen in damages so far. We will need federal assistance to get bridges and roads in good condition that have been affected by these floods.
I have been doing some research internally lately with road money we have been allocated by the state. I focused on the amount of County Road Aide we receive in my research. This does not include Flex Funds or FD 39 road money.
County Road Aide alone has not changed much at all. For example, in FY 2016 we received $1,101,504.74 in CRA money. In FY 25 we should receive $1,295,701.26. That's $194,196.52 more than it was 9 years ago. That sounds like a lot of money but let's look at expense. In 2016 asphalt was $68.10 per ton. This past year it was $119.10 per ton. That's $51.00 per ton difference. We laid 12,897 tons of blacktop last year. If we could have gotten that laid for $68.10 per ton that would have been almost $800,000 cheaper. The costs of operation of the road department have been seriously affected by the price of materials.
Our allocations from the State have not gone up near enough to support the needs we have with our roads. If our allocations from the State aren't going up anytime soon, we will need to start looking at ways to raise more revenue for road maintenance.
Have a blessed week
No one knows when a disaster will come. You can prepare as best you can but financially it can be devastating. The road fund of the Fiscal Court does not have the money to repair what we have seen in damages so far. We will need federal assistance to get bridges and roads in good condition that have been affected by these floods.
I have been doing some research internally lately with road money we have been allocated by the state. I focused on the amount of County Road Aide we receive in my research. This does not include Flex Funds or FD 39 road money.
County Road Aide alone has not changed much at all. For example, in FY 2016 we received $1,101,504.74 in CRA money. In FY 25 we should receive $1,295,701.26. That's $194,196.52 more than it was 9 years ago. That sounds like a lot of money but let's look at expense. In 2016 asphalt was $68.10 per ton. This past year it was $119.10 per ton. That's $51.00 per ton difference. We laid 12,897 tons of blacktop last year. If we could have gotten that laid for $68.10 per ton that would have been almost $800,000 cheaper. The costs of operation of the road department have been seriously affected by the price of materials.
Our allocations from the State have not gone up near enough to support the needs we have with our roads. If our allocations from the State aren't going up anytime soon, we will need to start looking at ways to raise more revenue for road maintenance.
Have a blessed week
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