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Public works warns $21 million needed to replace county culverts; fuel tax and timber revenues weakening
Summary
County public works staff told the quarterly meeting that local-access roads need extensive culvert work estimated at roughly $21 million over three to five years, with declining motor-fuel-tax receipts and paused timber sales threatening road-fund revenue.
Loretta (Public Works director) told department heads that Mason County faces a large local-access road maintenance need, with her county engineer identifying just over 40 culverts that should be replaced in the next three to five years. Loretta estimated an approximate cost of $21 million for those replacements and said no grant funding is currently available for many local-access culverts, so the work would rely on the road fund.
She also warned that two revenue streams for roads are weakening: motor vehicle fuel tax receipts (projected to decline by about 8% because of EV uptake and other factors) and timber-sale receipts (which on average yield about $370,000 per year but have been paused). Combined, those two items could reduce road-related revenues by up to about $1 million per year, Loretta said.
Public-works staff said county crews have completed a major federally funded project (Tudor Bill) under budget by using county forces. Staff also flagged gaps in engineering capacity and one vacant mechanic position the department is not filling now.
No formal action was taken; department heads were asked to continue planning around constrained road-fund projections and to identify priorities for the next several years.
