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Darke County Engineer
37th Annual
Engineer’s Report for 2014
By James P. Surber P.E., P.S.
Our annual report has always shown all money received, exactly where it
was spent, and what was maintained, constructed, and improved. Now, it
is an even greater challenge than in past years to adequately maintain
Darke County’s very large road mileage and very large number of bridges.
For over eight years we have faced increasing costs with decreasing
revenues. Annual fuel tax and license receipts received from the state
in 2014 decreased by $108,216.29 from 2013. This revenue is $107,383
less than it was in 2006, while the costs of road paving and bridge
materials have increased 30%-58% over the same period.
Our most difficult challenge is to adequately maintain 521 miles of
asphalt pavement surfaces. With no locally generated revenue and no
foreseeable increase in funding from state lawmakers, we must now
resort to less expensive and less desirable alternatives to total “hot
mix” asphalt resurfacing. Our proposed local initiative to give County
voters a choice to provide additional funding for the County,
Townships, Villages and the City of Greenville, was found to be
prohibited by Ohio law.
Spending in 2014 increased by $421,117.49 over 2013 ($223,000.16 over
annual receipts), primarily for equipment and building repairs. This
was taken from cash reserves. Our 37-year old facility was fitted
with an improved roof system, some new doors and interior upgrades.
Funding these improvements did not reduce the amount spent on the roads
and bridges.
During the year, we spent 39 cents of each tax dollar for road paving
and bridge improvements, 9 cents for road maintenance materials, 10
cents for overhead, 8 cents for equipment purchase and maintenance, and
34 cents for wages and fringe benefits. All expenditures are detailed
later in this report. Readers are encouraged to contact us with
any questions or comments. Phone: 937-547-7375 or email:
dce@earthlink.net
Get complete details by downloading the Darke County Engineer’s Report
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