The Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) heard on Monday morning that bridges in Logan County rank as some of the poorest in the state. Half of the county bridges are considered deficient or obsolete.
Guthrie News Page has added the entire video presentation below this article.
Randy Robinson, Executive Director of the Oklahoma Cooperative Circuit Engineering Districts Board, gave a presentation on county roads, bridges and funding at the regular scheduled BOCC meeting.
In the report, Robinson showed Oklahoma had the fifth highest percentage of deficient bridges in the nation and that 83 percent of the deficiencies are due to county bridges. Logan County ranks as the fourth worse in the state when it comes to deficient bridges (minimum of 20 feet long) at 44 percent.
Creek County tops the list at 48 percent.
Of the 216 bridges in the county, 107 are ruled to be deficient or obsolete (narrow). Robinson said it would take a minimum $32 million to repair the worn-down bridges.
How Logan County is funded for roads and bridges
Logan County receives funding from state allocations, federal grants and a county-wide sales tax.
Unlike surrounding states (Kansas, Arkansas and Texas), property taxes (ad valorem) does not go toward the county road system.
Funds generated through fuel taxes, motor vehicle collections and gross production taxes (natural gas and oil) and make up the County Highway Fund and benefits the county with daily maintenance and operations.
In the highway fund, Logan County received just over $5 million this past fiscal year (July 2014 – June 2015) equaling approximately $4,204 per mile. Of the 77 counties, Logan County ranks as the 56th richest.
Boosting the highway fund was the elevated collection of gross production taxes, which brought in over $2 million equaling 42 percent of the income. Fuel taxes generated $1.2 (25%) and motor vehicle taxes cleared $1.2 million (24%). However, gross production is expected to fall this year with less production of oil and gas action in the county.
A source of revenue for larger county projects comes through the County Improvements for Roads and Bridges which is managed by Oklahoma Department of Transportation. The fund took a hit from the state legislature this past session with a $50 million budget cut and a cap on the motor vehicle tax at $120 million ($139 million last year) per year.
The fund is split evenly between eight ODOT field divisions. Logan County sits in division four and shares the funds with nine other counties. Logan County is expected to receive an estimated $8.3 million over the next five years.
Logan County commissioners are now benefiting from a county sales tax to aid roads and bridges.
County voters approved a 10-year, three-quarters county-wide sales tax beginning in 2015 with one-quarter (split three ways for each district) going towards roads and bridges. The tax has generated nearly a $1 million in the first six months with $326,029.22 (divided between the three districts) going towards county roads.
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