Webster County engineer outlines nearly $21 million secondary roads budget, highlights carryover, projects and pay-scale concerns

Jamie Joel, county engineer for the Webster County secondary roads department, told the meeting the department’s FY25 carryover balance was $11,200,000 and that $2,200,000 of that amount “is in a set aside fund when Highway 20 (Old Highway 20) was transferred to the county.”

Joel said the interest on the $2.2 million is credited to the secondary roads department while interest on the remaining $9,000,000 goes to the general fund; he estimated the department receives “about a $100,000 in interest” annually. He said the carryover is used to cash-flow large projects and to provide reserves for unpredictable costs such as fuel and winter storms.

The proposed expenditures Joel presented are “just under $21,000,000,” most of which he said are funded by non–property-tax sources. He told the board property taxes account for roughly 20% of the department’s revenue and that projected revenue is up $3,250,000 for the coming year. Joel said the largest revenue sources are the road use tax fund and construction reimbursements.

Joel described two major pass-through projects the department will administer. An Emergency Watershed Protection (EWP) stream‑bank project at Deception Hollow is expected to cost about $500,000–$600,000 and be reimbursed by the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). A larger Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) grant project — which Joel said will be split over two summers — is “about 13 and a half million,” with federal reimbursement routed through the county rather than the state Department of Transportation.

Local projects Joel listed include replacement of two short bridges with concrete boxes, reconstruction work on a road adjacent to Harland Rogers (for which he expects roughly 70% reimbursement from a city TIF), work on 290 Street and Union Avenue to serve Hidden Acres Church Camp, and paving about a quarter-mile of 230th Street east of the DOT station near 169 to accommodate truck traffic from a gypsum mine, with the gypsum company expected to pay most costs.

Joel outlined equipment and capital needs, including $1.4 million budgeted for rock, $200,000 for pavement painting, purchase plans for a motor grader, a skid loader, two mower tractors and three tandem-axle trucks (one truck is being replaced through insurance after a fall accident). He also said the county will make its final bond payment this year on the new shop and Otho shed and has budgeted funds to acquire land for a new Dayton shed within the next year.

On personnel, Joel urged the board to consider reinstating a pay scale for his office. He said step increases and pay scales had been abandoned when he started at a lower salary than his predecessor and cited the case of an assistant, Jeffrey, who recently became a licensed land surveyor but did not receive a corresponding increase under the prior scale. Joel said he will raise the issue when salaries are discussed.

Joel reviewed statutory limits on transfers to the secondary roads fund, warning that transfer levels below 75% of the statutory maximum can carry repercussions. When asked, he said the county’s maximum is about $4,000,000 and that 75% of that is roughly $3,000,000, and he stated the county is currently above that 75% level.

The presentation included a brief dispute over a proposed PTO buyback: Joel said he budgeted to restore a one-time PTO buyback for his department and will ask the board to approve it as part of a forthcoming budget amendment; an interjecting speaker replied that the buyback was never guaranteed as a recurring benefit. The discussion concluded with board members thanking Joel for the overview.

The board did not take any formal votes during Joel’s presentation; Joel indicated he will return with any required budget amendments and further personnel proposals.