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County finance staff warn Road Fund spending will ramp up later this year amid delayed state fuel-tax deposits
Summary
Cowlitz County finance staff told commissioners the Road Fund has a $17.3 million beginning balance earmarked for capital projects, that state motor-vehicle fuel tax deposits have been delayed, and that major projects such as Cloverdale and Tower Road Bridge are expected to draw down reserves later in the year.
Susie, finance manager, told the Cowlitz County Board of Commissioners that the Road Fund has a $15,700,000 budget for tax revenue and a beginning unreserved balance of about $17,300,000 that is largely earmarked for capital projects.
The county has collected about $8.8 million of property-tax receipts so far, and intergovernmental receipts — budgeted at $20.3 million — are behind expectations. “Included in this line item is the motor vehicle fuel tax. So we learned that, the state is having system issues. So they’ve been depositing roughly half of our motor vehicle fuel tax revenue,” Susie said.
The shortfall is expected to correct when the state fixes the system. “We’re hoping for a July fix on that,” said Sean Roe, staff member, adding that the state’s timeline had slipped from April to May to June before the most recent projection.
County staff described the large beginning balance as funds set aside to match grants and to support an active capital program. “As we plan for projects, most of our larger capital projects are gonna require some sort of match. Luckily, over the last few years, we have had ARPA dollars to help match those,” Roe said. Staff identified the Cloverdale project and the Tower Road Bridge as two major items expected to use that balance; Cloverdale was described as moving toward an award and execution this week.
Staff said typical expense patterns mean supplies and services will increase later in the year as projects ramp up, with the chip-seal program and an overlay program among the larger near-term items. For supplies, staff estimated chip-seal materials will be “around 1 and a half to 1,800,000,” and said overlay work (for example Lakeside) could be about $2,930,000 for the year. FEMA small-project reimbursements (projects under $1 million) were noted as another source of funds already in the beginning balance because FEMA fronts those payments.
Commissioners pressed staff on whether the county will spend down to the budgeted year-end balance; staff said some projects originally slated for the year have been delayed and that they expect to return to the board with a refined update. “I do believe we’ll come back on a Wednesday, in July to really narrow in on there and give better updates on what the status of certain ones are,” Roe said.
No formal action was taken; staff committed to return with updated project timing and revised cash-flow expectations.
Ending: Commissioners were told to anticipate larger outlays for capital and chip-seal work in the fall and to expect a July update on project timing and fund balances.
