Committee approves mileage-based distribution for county and township infrastructure fund (House Bill 1065)

The Political Subdivisions Committee voted to advance House Bill 1065 as amended, which changes how the County and Township Infrastructure Fund is divided among townships in non–oil-producing counties by shifting from an equal-per-township payment to a formula based on certified township road miles.

The change affects the portion of the fund commonly known as “Operation Prairie Dog.” Under current law, up to $115,000,000 per biennium is allocated to non–oil-producing counties; 13 percent of that distribution — $14,950,000 — is set aside for townships in those counties and is currently split evenly among townships that maintain road miles. State Treasurer Thomas Beadle testified that the bill would make the township share proportional to certified road miles and would align the distribution method with other payments the treasurer's office makes to townships.

Beadle told the committee that the current equal-payment method produces a small remainder when the statewide township count does not divide evenly into the available dollars. “This bill, before you, seeks to change the township distribution portion of that formula,” Beadle…