Dade County hitting dead end on road funding

Dade County Public Works Director Billy Massengale thought earlier this week about all the streets his department has recently paved.

Oak Lane. Patterson Drive. County Road 6. Clark Lumber Road. Durham Road.

"I'm sitting here off the top of my head counting them," he said. "We've got several more to go."

Three weeks ago, though, the Dade County Commission approved a budget for the just-begun fiscal year that included only about $630,000 out of the general fund for Massengale's roads department. That's about 30 percent less than last year's $910,000.

Creek Road in Dade County has a large rough spot in the pavement.

Despite the cut, Massengale said his nine full-time and one part-time employees will keep paving and patching roads at the same rate.

"We're not going to cut none of the service to none of the citizens," he said. "We're going to carry on with the work."

But it's not clear whether county officials can compensate for the $280,000 budget cut. They hope eventually to see more money flow from Atlanta because of the motor fuel tax that kicked in at the beginning of July, but that won't happen before next summer.

Meanwhile, even though their local sales tax revenue has shrunk from $2.55 million in fiscal 2012 to $2.17 million in 2014, Chief Financial Officer Don Townsend thinks the county will have to tap that source to make up for the cut.

It would take about $600,000 to equal last year's total local funding - about 28 percent of the county's 2015 projected sales tax revenue of about $2.15 million.

But that's the problem with projections: County officials don't know what to expect next year.

"We're waiting to hit this floor," said Townsend, hoping that metaphorical floor is cushioned enough to help people bounce back. "We have not seen that yet."

Dade County officials also hope to see more funding from a Georgia Department of Transportation program called the Local Maintenance and Improvement Grant.

Between 10 and 20 percent of state sales tax revenue from motor fuel goes into that grant, which is then sent to the local governments for transportation projects, such as fixing roads. GDOT distributes the money based on populations and miles of road in each county.

This year, Dade County is getting $250,000 from the program. But Townsend and County Executive Ted Rumley think they will see more money next year because of the motor fuel tax increase that state lawmakers approved last year.

Drivers used to pay a per-gallon sales tax of 7 cents, plus 4 percent of whatever the fuel rate was. But in the new plan, which began July 1, there's a per-gallon excise tax of 26 cents for gas and 29 cents for diesel.

The Department of Transportation believes this will raise $600-$700 million more than the roughly $850 million projected for fiscal 2015. How much of that will trickle down to the counties?

"Everybody will see an increase," said Terry Gable, a GDOT grants administrator. "As far as the dollar amount, it would be hard to know at this point."

No matter what, though, that money won't help Dade County this year. GDOT won't decide grant amounts again until next summer.

Counties throughout the state are waiting for the answer.

"The state has said, 'You will get more money from this,'" said Chattooga County Commissioner Jason Winters, who received about $380,000 in GDOT grant funding this year. "Until it materializes, though, no one will truly know."

Between now and then, meanwhile, Dade County could be missing out on sales tax revenue. Because the county is located in the corner of the state, wedged between Tennessee and Alabama, it bases its budget on sales tax from motor fuel more than all but two counties in Georgia.

With the tax increase, Dade County leaders fear that more people will fill up in Tennessee and Alabama, costing the county more money.

"That is a great fear," Townsend said. "That is a great unknown. It's tough."

If they don't want to use sales tax and can't count immediately on more money from the state, there is another option: Increase local property taxes.

But they don't want to try that again, not after increasing them 23 percent last year to the shouts and threats of angry residents.

Contact staff writer Tyler Jett at tjett@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6476.