Woodbury County reviews FY27 secondary roads budget, equipment purchases and gravel project progress
Summary
Secondary roads staff told supervisors the FY27 plan relies heavily on road‑use taxes and seeks several equipment purchases — including a $84,415 sprayer truck — to keep a 10‑year gravel road project on schedule; board members asked for CIP and levy clarifications before final approvals.
Secondary roads staff presented the proposed FY27 secondary roads budget and outline of a multi‑year gravel road project on Monday, saying the department needs new equipment and bridge replacements to maintain progress.
"Nearly 60% of the funding of secondary roads is by our road use taxes," said Laura, the department's representative, describing revenue sources and how expenditures are driven by maintenance needs. She said local option sales tax covers roughly 24% of the budget and property taxes about 15%.
The department proposed several equipment purchases — a motor grader, mechanic's truck, skid steer and trailer, engineering truck, tandem trucks with trailers and mowers — and flagged a 2002 sprayer truck for replacement. "I have a cost of $84,415 to replace that vehicle," Laura said, breaking the estimate into a chassis and a Krysteel flatbed and noting safety upgrades and the truck's high mileage.
Laura also outlined bridge replacement priorities for U155 (129 feet long, currently about 20 feet wide) and K20 (66 feet long, about 16 feet wide) and reported the gravel road project is in its fourth year of a planned 10‑year program. She said the project has resurfaced many miles and that continued equipment purchases are needed to keep on schedule.
Supervisors questioned whether vehicle purchases should be coded to the capital improvement plan (CIP) and whether vehicles qualify under current CIP rules; staff asked to double‑check CIP rules and to confirm useful life thresholds. Board members also discussed overtime projections, vendor quotes for specific vehicles and recent savings from in‑house mechanic work. Ryan Erickson and county accounting staff were asked to confirm the levy impact of transfers from rural basic and how inclusion of improvement requests would affect the budget mailing.
The board voted to receive the secondary roads budget for review; final appropriation and any equipment purchases will return to the board after CIP, bid and accounting clarifications.
The presentation and discussion emphasized maintaining road safety and keeping the gravel‑project timeline, with staff promising follow‑up on CIP eligibility, bid timing and funding sources.
