With more road funding cuts threatened, Porter County considers path forward

Porter County’s share of road funding from the state is hitting some hefty bumps that have caused revenue to drop and be restricted for use over the past few years.

Most recently, the state’s Department of Local Government Finance cut the county’s road budget by almost $940,000 for this year. Additionally, a couple years ago, the state began diverting 50% of each county’s funds from the gas tax, which helps pay for road improvements, into a fund with strictures on how the money can be spent.

County officials said they will meet soon to figure out a way forward and expressed dismay that the Indiana Senate is considering a bill that would cut back on how much money would go into the restricted fund but only for counties and municipalities that pass a wheel tax, something county officials have no interest in.

With 816 miles of county roads, the county needs to know about funding for planning purposes, said Board of Commissioners President Jeff Good, R-Center, adding the county council, commissioners and auditor’s office are trying to figure out.

“We’re all scratching our heads because several years ago, the state raised the gas tax,” he said.

The state has cut the county’s highway department the past few years. The main source of revenue for that budget is the state’s gas tax, said Auditor Vicki Urbanik.

“How do you justify to keep cutting budgets and expect to get the same amount of roadwork done?” said Rich Sexton, supervisor of the county’s highway department.

The department has doubled the amount of chip and seal work it does since purchasing its own equipment two years ago, he said, but the restricted funds can’t be used for snow plowing.

The funds can be used for paving, ditches, labor, some signage and trimming trees for sightlines, he said, but counties in the southern part of the state that don’t have to plow roads for several months of the year have an advantage because they have a longer season to do roadwork and don’t have to divert funds to plowing.

The county council adopted a $5.7 million budget for the highway department for this year, which the state trimmed to about $4.8 million, Urbanik said. County officials knew when the budget was adopted that there was a strong likelihood it would be cut because it was based on projected revenue.

Gas tax revenue estimates, she added, have been going down each year. The county received $5.9 million in gas tax revenue in 2018 but that dropped to $5.3 million by last year.

Additionally, half of the revenue started going into a restricted fund two years ago. For some counties, Urbanik said, that’s worked out fine. For others, including Porter County, it’s not been ideal because it can’t be used toward snow plowing.

A bill up for discussion before the Indiana Senate would drop the amount put into the restricted fund to 40% of the funds received from the state, but only for municipalities with a wheel tax.

While Valparaiso and Portage have wheel taxes, county officials have long said they don’t want to institute a wheel tax.

“It puts us in a corner,” said Urbanik, recently named president of the Indiana Auditors’ Association, adding the association is asking lawmakers to amend the bill to make it more flexible.

County Council President Jeremy Rivas, D-2nd District, hopes legislators remove the section of the bill that ties the funding to having a wheel tax.

“It’s a bit ridiculous,” he said, adding all municipalities receive funding from the state gas tax and the restrictions shouldn’t be lifted for those that impose a wheel tax.

The COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting drop in travel likely will speed the drop in gas tax revenue, he said.

“It’s here and we have to address it. What that means, I can’t say,” he said.