How do commissioners determine whose road gets paved next? Well, county leaders are working now to make that answer clearer.
The Madison County Board of Commissioners held a road policy meeting Monday morning, discussing how to prioritize road projects in the county.
Chairman Anthony Dove suggested that the county develop an annual budget that divides road funds among the five commissioners. That way, each commissioner could address road needs in his district as he sees fit. As it stands now, the five-member board votes on each road project.
“You know your district well and you know how you want it (the money) spent,” said Dove to each commissioner.
The hitch in this plan is the limited road funds available now. Madison County voters renewed the special purpose local option sales tax (SPLOST) in 2008 for six years. It will expire in 2014.
Approximately $3.9 million in SPLOST revenue for roads is anticipated during that time, with annual collections at roughly $650,000 per year. That means that the county commissioners could divide that money five ways, with each receiving about $130,000 per year for roads in their district. This allows for greater flexibility for board members to address needs, but BOC members could find that they lack sufficient funding to tackle bigger road issues in their district.
“We have very little money in SPLOST for six years and we have a lot of needs,” said commissioner Stanley Thomas.
Dove said the board could also consider dividing money per district based on property taxes collected in each district.
However, the chairman said this five-man budgeting tactic will work best if voters approve next year’s referendum for a one-cent sales tax for regional road maintenance. Madison County anticipates receiving $1.5 million annually off the proposed transportation tax (T-SPLOST). This would provide $300,000 per year, per commissioner for their district roads, along with the money allocated in local SPLOST funds.
As commissioners sit at the table in the county government complex, citizens frequently step up to the podium to seek help on their roads.
Madison County has over 500 miles of roads, with 113 miles of dirt roads.
“A lot of roads are tar and gravel and are tearing to pieces,” said Dove.
When questioned, the BOC repeatedly fails to offer concise criteria on what gets paved and when.
Commissioner Stanley Thomas noted Monday that citizens are generally unaware that of every $1,000 in property taxes spent in Madison County, only $27 actually goes to roads.
But board members also concede that a formula for determining road priorities is long overdue.
“We’ve basically just been flying by the seat of our pants,” said Dove.
County engineer Phil Munro passed out a sheet Monday with a proposed road prioritization model. He noted that the board could assign point values for different criteria and the roads with the highest point totals would be given top priority. For instance, is the road a cut-through route? What is the current condition of the road, such as potholes per mile? How many residents, businesses or churches are on the road? Is it a school bus route? Is the road heavily traveled? Is it in an area deemed “high density?”
Munro also suggested that the board consider how many property taxes are paid per mile.
“If you have three roads you’re comparing, and one has $30,000 in property taxes and another has $5,000, then those on the road paying more would feel entitled to a higher priority,” said Munro.
But commissioners were not warm to this idea of prioritizing roads.
Commissioner Mike Youngblood said he didn’t want to determine what road gets paved according to how big someone’s house is.
“I won’t make that a deciding factor,” said Youngblood. “… I don’t think we need to discriminate against this man over here because he doesn’t live in as big a house and pay as much in property taxes as this man.”
Commissioner John Pethel said he agreed with Youngblood, saying that the road that’s in the worst condition should be given priority over one with more property taxes collected.
The board did not adopt any new policies Monday, but Dove suggested that the board members each pick a couple of roads in their district to be used in a road prioritization study in which numerical values will be assigned based on the proposed criteria.
“Give us a couple of roads y’all like to have us do,” said Dove to the board members. “And we will evaluate them and see how it comes out.”
In a related matter, the board discussed establishing a policy on when a board will adopt a private road into the county road system. Commissioners agreed that they don’t want to adopt any roads that carry heavy expenses for the county.
“It’s pretty hard to explain to someone who’s been begging to have their road paved for 25 years why you’re taking on other roads and other expenses,” said Thomas.
Commissioner agreed that the county shouldn’t adopt any private roads unless the owners do everything the county asks to bring it up to speed. For instance, some private drives are extremely narrow and must be widened. Commissioners agreed that it’s not the county’s responsibility to widen private drives or bring those paths up to county specifications. This burden falls on the citizens seeking adoption of the road.
AND they do this now because they know the elections are coming up and most of the BOC want their nice easy jobs back?
"Munro also suggested that the board consider how many property taxes are paid per mile."
"But commissioners were not warm to this idea of prioritizing roads."
"Commissioner Mike Youngblood said he didn’t want to determine what road gets paved according to how big someone’s house is."
Wow! What common sense our board of commissioners have. Kudos for addressing these road issues in an organized and fair manner. No conservative versus liberal policies in effect here. Just plain old common sense and fairness. How refreshing. Now if only the state and federal governments would learn something from this example.
Just keep putting everybody off saying we got to get bids?
See the more you have the more you get to keep?
Get it? Got it? Good!
YOU CAN'T HAVE IT BOTH WAYS SO MAKE UP YOUR MINDS? If you want a quite rual road leave it dirt. If you want a Drag Strip in front of your house pave it.
When I moved here 13 years ago they scraped our little (dead end) dirt road often and added gravel when it was needed. Now they rarely ever do anything to it and they haven't added gravel to our little dirt road in more than 3 years. When it rains, you slip and slide all over the place.
Not to mention, when they do any service on the road, they do less and less of the road each time. They used to maintain it to just past our property line, now they only 'maintain it' (if you can call it that) to our neighbor's driveway who lives before us.
I hope they never pave my road. I moved from Atlanta to here for a reason, to raise little redneck country boys on a dirt road. But, I don't want to go sliding off in a ditch every time it rains either.
AND let me ask you Whitey. Since the BOC got the Ok to fix the bridge HAS IT BEEN FIXED?