Allen County Commissioners continue to work on the details of their capital program that will rely on the passage of a sales tax on the May ballot.
Commissioners meeting with Allen County engineer Brion Rhodes about how funds generated through the sales tax will help with infrastructure projects through his department. The sales tax is expected to bring in 3.5 million dollars a year. Commissioners say 2.5 million will go towards major structural projects and 1 million dollars will be used for other capital needs including roads and bridges.
"Our goal is, the dollars that come in with the plan that we are proposing and the voters will vote on in May, is to be able to dedicate around $500,000 which will equal the amount of money that he is putting into his road program today," said Commissioner Cory Noonan.
Rhodes says they currently spend around $500,000 from state and federal funding through the gas tax and license plate fees to repair roadways in the county. He says they should be spending around 2 and a half million dollars annually to address all the issues with roads.
"I think the general public wants to have good roads and bridges, and the issues are out there, we know what they are, we just don't have the funding to fix them, and so it's really a federal, state, and local issue, and the commissioners are committed to helping that situation," said Rhodes.
Rhodes says that additional money will help leverage more funding from state and federal sources.
