Monday, August 3, 2015
Commission Proposes Major Investment in County Roads
Chris D. Jackson Chairman Pro-Tempore, County Commission
As County Executive Williams explained so well in his column last week, the cost to 
maintain and repair our county roads has skyrocketed in recent years. Since 1999, the cost to tar and gravel our county roads has more than doubled while the the cost to asphalt our roads has nearly tripled.
While there is no doubt Highway Superintendent Donnie Joe Brown has done a wonderful job in bringing our 1,066 miles of roadways into the 21st Century, he has become very limited in what he can do on a yearly basis as costs have steadily risen while local revenues have remained stagnant and slowly dwindled.
In terms of revenues, the last tax increase in Lawrence County was in 2006. However, the revenues generated from that property tax increase went almost entirely to the construction of the county's new jail facility, which was mandated by the State of Tennessee.
To find the last tax increase that provided additional funding for county services like road improvements, you would have to go all the way back to 1998. A lot has changed in the world since 1998, unfortunately, that does not include the level of funding for our county roads. At the end of the day, our county can no longer make the revenue levels from 1998 adequately address the costs and scope of work of 2015.
Each year we maintain the statusquo, we fall further and further behind as our roads continue to deteriorate from age, weather events such as flooding and freezing as well as the increased use of large logging trucks and other equipment throughout the county.
In response to this growing problem, the county commission is stepping up to the plate in a big way. At last week's budget meeting, the commission agreed to allocate 7 cents out of the proposed 33 property tax increase to go towards road repair projects on a reoccurring basis in the county's budget.
In perspective, next year alone, that funding will allow the county to have at least $2 million in new road projects, which could be 'stretched' even further if the price of oil and gas continue to decrease. This proposal is significant for a couple of reasons.
First, this funding package marks the first major investment in our county roads and infrastructure in decades. And second, the funding will provide Donnie Joe and our Highway Department enough revenue to reconstitute the Roads Paving Program that our county invested so much time, money and effort into over the past 15 years. Instead of patching each year, we will now be able to rebuild and reinvest.
The commission understands and respects the fact that no one likes paying any additional taxes. But we also understand that if we want to improve as a county, we must make improvements in areas that are vital to our county's future success so we don't end up back in the same situation just a few short years from now.
This new road package is a prime example of that philosophy at work. This package will directly improve our citizens quality of life by fixing the potholes, crumbling roads and dilapidated bridges we all drive on each and every day. The proposal will also make our county more competitive in economic development as we know prospective industries value and often choose communities with quality roads and infrastructure.
In my opinion, these improvements represent tax dollars well spent and are an example of how this county commission is dedicated to finding progressive and sustainable solutions to help ensure long term economic development success in Lawrence County.
