Custer County outlines road-and-bridge budget shortfall, prioritizes graders, water trucks and chip seal work

The Custer County Board of Commissioners examined the Road & Bridge department's 2026 budget projections at a workshop, highlighting a roughly $200,000 discrepancy between revenue and proposed spending and discussing whether to prioritize equipment purchases, fuel and road surfacing work.

The county commission chairman opened the workshop saying, “This is a workshop. I've got budgets, and where we are in the process of finalizing the '26 budget,” and noted the figures are projections. Commissioners and staff discussed short-term options — including drawing down mag chloride and road-base lines, deferring some asphalt work and seeking used equipment — while keeping critical services such as snow removal and high-traffic road repairs as priorities.

Why it matters: Road maintenance represents one of the largest operating costs for the county and involves long-lived equipment and recurring fuel and material expenses. Commissioners said public understanding of those costs is important when considering possible tax-rate or fee adjustments.

Details from the workshop

- Revenue and projections: County staff reported total revenues of $2,635,763…