Lake County creates Transportation Improvement District to seek roadway funding

The Lake County Board of Commissioners voted to create a Transportation Improvement District for Lake County and to constitute and appoint a board of trustees during its public meeting.

Patrick Mahorsey of the Lake Development Authority (LDA) told commissioners the district is "very similar to the Lake County Energy Improvement District and the Shoreline Special Improvement District." He said the TID would allow Lake County communities to apply for additional road funding for projects with an economic development purpose and that the funding is administered through ODOT-related programs. "Each year, we could apply up to 500 half a million dollars in funding," Mahorsey said.

The board adopted the resolution without further amendments after the LDA overview and recorded the vote in favor.

Why it matters: the TID provides a formal mechanism to pursue state-level transportation assistance for preliminary engineering, detailed design, right-of-way acquisition or construction of transportation improvements on public roadways. Commissioners and the LDA framed the district as an additional tool for municipalities, villages and townships to support projects tied to economic development.

What was said: Mahorsey noted LDA would handle back-office management for the TID and compared it to other special improvement entities in the county. He described eligible uses of funds as preliminary engineering, design, right-of-way or construction work on public roadways.

What the vote did: by voting to create the district and appoint trustees, commissioners authorized the county to establish the governance structure necessary to apply for and manage awards through the program described by the LDA.

Next steps: county staff and the LDA will move forward with TID formation and board appointments as established by the adopted resolution; commissioners did not set a public deadline in the meeting for specific applications or projects.