Ashland County highway staff presents draft county bridge-aid levy and entitlement proposal

Ashland County highway staff presented a draft county bridge-aid policy that would create a countywide levy to fund bridge and large culvert repairs and a separate emergency fund for urgent repairs.

The proposal, introduced at the Highway Committee meeting, would levy a countywide, dedicated bridge-aid tax and establish an annual project cap in the draft of $100,000. Under the draft, towns would submit applications by late summer for projects the following year; the draft also proposes a smaller emergency fund to which towns could apply outside the normal cycle.

The policy text shown to the committee includes a simple entitlement model: each town would accumulate an annual share of the levy (an “entitlement” balance) and applications would be prioritized by those balances. Committee members discussed a modeled spreadsheet showing four hypothetical years of entitlement balances and sample distributions. The presenter said the spreadsheet showed how a town with a high accumulated balance would be first in line for funding, while smaller requests could be partly funded if the committee chose to allocate percentages of the collected money.

Committee members asked when the levy would take effect. Highway staff said the statute makes counties that adopt this levy permanent unless explicitly changed; because of the county budget calendar and required town outreach, staff recommended outreach to towns this fall and targeting implementation no earlier than tax year 2027. Staff said town-level participation will be polled and the committee will consider the towns’ votes in recommending whether to move forward; villages may opt in under statute, and cities do not have the option.

Staff gave examples of estimated tax impacts by town under the $100,000 cap. The presenter said White River would see roughly $15 per $100,000 of assessed value and another town was estimated at about $9 per $100,000, depending on each town’s equalized valuation and how many towns participate. The committee discussed the political and budgeting implications; members recommended taking the draft to a joint town meeting so all towns hear the same presentation. The committee tentatively scheduled outreach and a joint meeting for Oct. 13.

Members also discussed how the emergency fund would operate: staff said the emergency account would be held separately, towns could apply directly to staff for emergency repairs, and the committee would track emergency draws in the entitlement worksheet. Committee members confirmed that implementing the levy would require further approvals (committee, finance committee and county board) and that acceptance by a majority of towns would be considered in the committee’s recommendation.

Next steps: staff will present the draft to towns, gather feedback, and bring a revised policy back to the committee for edits before forwarding to finance and county board. Staff said it is unlikely the levy could be implemented in time to affect the 2026 tax rolls and that 2027 is the earliest feasible start year.

Ending: The committee agreed to keep the policy on future agendas and to invite town officials to the October meeting for a presentation and Q&A.