Quorum Court advances $395,000 road-fund fix after year of emergency maintenance

Washington County Quorum Court members voted to forward an ordinance to the full court that would appropriate additional funds from the road fund’s unappropriated reserves to cover cost escalations in the county’s road maintenance program.

The ordinance was moved to the full court with a "due pass" recommendation after County Road Director Jeff Crowder and multiple justices described an unusually large, seasonal effort this year to stabilize pavement in the face of long-term deferred maintenance and rising material costs.

The vote matters because county staff said the road fund itself—not the county general fund—bears the shortfall. Comptroller Sherman told justices the department had budgeted for a reserve but that claims and costs rose, and the proposed transfer would draw down unappropriated reserves in the road fund to cover year-end expenses.

"We use what we call a PCI, which is a pavement condition index. That tells us how our…