Special sales tax funds several projects in 2014

Crewmembers from the Jackson County road and bridge department have completed several projects this year with funds from the special .4 percent sales tax, it has been reported.

During the Jackson County Commission meeting on Monday, the commission reviewed road and bridge projects completed this year with funds from the special countywide retailers’ sales tax approved by voters in August 2012.

When it was first approved in 2005, the special seven-year tax was split between economic development and road and bridge repairs. Economic development does not receive any funding from the current tax.

It’s also noted that the cities in Jackson County benefited from the previous sales tax and continue to benefit from the current tax. Almost a third of the monthly revenues from the tax are dispersed among the county’s cities (Circleville, Delia, Denison, Holton, Hoyt, Mayetta, Netawaka, Soldier and Whiting). Each city’s appropriation is based on the amount of property taxes levied in each city, as well as the population, it was reported.

The following is a list of projects paid for by special sales tax dollars this year and the cost of materials for each project:

* A bridge was installed at 158th and B6 Roads to replace a low water crossing ($73,798.52).

* Two tubes were installed at 214th Road ($13,042.80).

* A tube was installed at 222nd and L6 Roads ($5,575).

* A tube was installed at 286th and X5 Roads ($9,270).

* E Road from 118th to 134th Roads was chip-and-sealed ($200,000).

* A new road leading to the back of Holton Community Hospital was built ($30,000).

* Two 10-foot tubes were installed at 238th and S6 Roads ($30,000).

* 110th Road between N and P4 Roads was chip-and-sealed ($32,757.27).

* S Road between 118th and 127th Roads was chip-and-sealed ($12,954.66).

* 214th Road between P4 and Q Roads was chip-and-sealed ($6,390).

The road and bridge department receives about $28,000 to $33,500 per month from the special sales tax, it was reported. There was a $134,581.21 cash carryover from 2013 in the sales tax account for the department, it was reported.

The road and bridge department currently maintains 46 miles of chip-and-seal roads, more than 700 miles of rock roads and 204 miles of dirt and minimum maintenance roads, it was reported. The county also maintains a total of 196 bridges.

Eric Fritz, road and bridge co-supervisor, noted at the meeting that, in 2014, 50,000 tons of road rock was distributed throughout the county, which is 3,300 loads.

That information was presented in response to county residents complaining on the Internet about poor county road conditions after the wet weekend.

Several of the county commissioners also said they received phone calls with complaints about the roads over the weekend.

“The rock we’re using now is considerably better than what we were hauling years ago,” Fritz said.

Commissioner Bill Elmer said that he drove several county roads this past weekend after the rain, and even some of the county’s best rocked roads were in rough shape because of the moisture.

The commissioners commended the road and bridge crew for their work on the roads despite the weather conditions.

“People just need to slow down and give it a couple days to settle down,” Commissioner Ed Kathrens said of the wet roads. “You can’t take that kind of criticism to heart.”