Benton County weighs using sales tax dollars to cover near-term bridge and road engineering costs

Benton County staff on Monday laid out engineering cost estimates tied to the county’s five-year road and bridge plan and urged commissioners to consider using local option sales tax dollars to cover design work.

“Bridges specifically, like these 12 bridges, anticipating about $15,000 of expense for those remaining in 2026,” said Chris, a county staff member, who also cited a $50,000 estimate to design the County Road 56 bridge for a 2027 construction year and an engineering estimate that could be “upwards of 400,000” for the County Road 80 reconstruction (with roughly a quarter of that potentially incurred in 2026).

Commissioners discussed options for managing a peak in bridge work: spacing projects across years, using levy money, or drawing on the local option sales tax. One participant asked whether the county could shift work in-house and noted the trade-offs: “For 1,300,000, how many employees could we hire to do this in house?” the speaker asked, pressing whether wages and staff retention would be a better long-term approach than outside contracting.

County staff cautioned that bridge inspection and design require specific qualifications. Chris said an on-site certified bridge construction inspector had been quoted at about $150,000 per bridge this year, though concurrent scheduling with a single contractor and inspector could reduce total consultant costs.

Commissioners asked for more discussion with the full board and agreed to convene a committee of the whole to consider timing and use of sales tax dollars for design and engineering before committing to additional outside consulting.

Next steps: commissioners asked staff to prepare a fuller proposal for the committee of the whole and to return with clearer cost estimates and scheduling options.