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Page County supervisors review secondary roads budget, weed commissioner asks for added transfer and equipment funds
Summary
The board reviewed the secondary roads budget including a proposed wage split for the new weed commissioner, a $10,300 equipment request, and a $42,500 transfer request to cover pesticide purchases and related costs; the engineer outlined larger equipment and rock-cost pressures across roadwork categories.
Page County supervisors heard a detailed presentation from the county’s secondary roads staff on proposed spending for fiscal year 2026, including a request to increase the rural-basic transfer to support weed-commissioner operations and purchases.
JD, presenting the engineer/secondary roads expenditure plan, told the board the weed-commissioner budget includes $10,300 for vehicle and equipment repair and parts and a requested $42,500 transfer from rural-basic funds to cover chemicals and other recurring spray expenses. "Right now, we're just keeping track of it on paper," JD said about the current method for recording spray locations and chemicals, and he described a software purchase proposal to map spraying activity and chemical use.
The presentation listed other specific items: a $4,000 stipend for the weed commissioner role, a county cell-phone cost estimated at $60 per month, an estimated $800 for two standard conferences and CEUs, and a proposed hotspot for the commissioner’s tablet to reduce separate cellular costs. JD noted that the weed commissioner began in March and that part of his wages will be charged to secondary roads when he performs road-related work.
On the broader secondary roads side, JD asked the board to focus on the budget’s 12 categories — administration, engineering, construction, bridges and culverts, roads, snow and ice, traffic control, road clearing, equipment operation, tools/materials/supplies, real estate/buildings, and roadway construction — and flagged several cost pressures. The roads category contains the largest staff allocations and includes an $80,000 increase (a 3.8% rise) driven primarily by a rise in rock prices. He described a proposal for new equipment totaling roughly $950,000, and noted a tandem truck and snow package estimate of about $330,000 for a chassis and box with snow equipment.
JD also reported operational variances from FY2024: additional secondary-roads expenditures of $84,008.82 in February 2024 (including $18,008.50 for chemicals), and he said emulsion sales to other jurisdictions have risen and should be re-estimated on the revenue side. He said the county’s motor-grader fleet hours have fallen after recent investments, but that replacement and emissions-driven price increases are pushing vehicle estimates higher.
Board members asked staff to move spray and chemical purchases into a discrete line item within the weed-commissioner budget so those expenditures are tracked directly rather than being absorbed into secondary roads line items. Lisa (county staff) and JD agreed to search for past line-item structure and to re-enter missing line items so the budget accurately reflects weed-commissioner costs and any transfer requests.
The board approved the meeting agenda at the start of the session by voice vote; no formal vote was recorded for later budget items during the discussion. The engineer said he will return with revised numbers that reflect the board’s direction on transfers, line-item changes and any wage adjustments the board decides to adopt.
