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Highway department warns tax-levy funding shortfall; revenues lag expenses midyear
Summary
Highway leaders told the committee tax-levy revenue has been stagnant for years, year-to-date revenues trail expenses and the department faces constrained capacity for road projects without additional investment.
The Richland County highway commissioner (speaker not named) outlined a budget shortfall for the Highway Department and warned that the department is running close to exhaustion of its tax-levy funding for the year.
The commissioner said year-to-date revenues through the latest closed entry were about $2.3 million and expenses were about $3.5 million, leaving a current fund balance of roughly $23,000. He said the department's tax levy allocation of $1,663,500 has been largely expended by midyear and the county is operating largely on revenue generated by operations.
The commissioner traced part of the department's long-term pressure to a transfer in 2017 when $1.3 million was taken from highway funds to the county general fund. He said the debt associated with that transfer has been paid but the funds were not restored to the highway budget. The commissioner said that transfer and subsequent stagnant tax levies over two decades amount to nearly a $1 million loss in levy capacity since 2001.
He told the committee that without additional investment the highway program will be limited to "bare bones" maintenance. He said at current activity levels the county is on a 57-year rotation to maintain county roads and stressed the difficulty of covering rising materials and construction costs without increased levy or other revenue.
The commissioner noted the department has rebuilt some reserves and that certain state shared funds (GTA) have been reinvested, pushing one internal account from about $570,000 to over $600,000. He also mentioned specific capital and equipment expenditures reported in the meeting packet, including a monthly bills total of $570,014.12 and a new truck body bill among the larger items.
Clarifying details provided during the meeting included: year-to-date revenues ~$2.3 million and expenses ~$3.5 million; current fund balance shown as ~$23,000 at the latest closed month; tax levy allocation of $1,663,500; historical transfer of $1.3 million from highway to general fund in 2017; GTA account increased from roughly $570,000 to over $600,000; monthly bills total reported as $570,014.12.
The committee did not adopt a new levy or change funding at the meeting; members discussed that the county board will ultimately set budgets and that borrowing had been used in prior years to cover some needs.
