By Robert Tomlinson
News Director
CENTREVILLE — As the calendar year comes to an end at the St. Joseph County Road Commission, a couple of essential pieces of business were given the okay by the agency’s board.
During their Wednesday, Dec. 20 meeting, the board of the road commission approved the agency’s final 2023 amended budget and its preliminary budget for 2024, laying out final numbers for this year’s activities and projecting what the next year could bring.
In total, the final amended budget for 2023 lists $16,863,111.07 in revenues and total operating expenses of $16,692,671.21, for a total of $170,439.86 in revenues over expenses for the year. Those include $15,629,607.27 in total road expenses, with $8,958,549.18 in project expenses alone.
For 2024, the agency projects to receive $18,343,664 in revenue and expend $18,305,088, for a total excess of $38,576 in projected revenue over expenses. Expenses include $16,480,088 in total road expenses, which itself includes $7,382,852 in projected project expenses, $3,954,618 in primary maintenance and $5,142,618 in local maintenance.
Road Commission Manager John Lindsey discussed the 2023 amended budget first, noting that there was a “switch” in their local bridge program funding from $1.2 million to $821,648, due to shifting some of the money over to 2024 because of the Covered Bridge project not being done as of yet. He also said the agency will receive an additional $375,000 from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) coming into 2024, as well as $38,000 in grants for the Covered Bridge in 2023, and an additional $25,000 coming in 2024 from Consumer’s Energy.
Lindsey then discussed the county’s Covered Bridge appropriation, of which $700,000 is listed in the 2023 amended budget. He said they’ve been “working back and forth with the county” on getting the $500,000 the county commission promised them for the Covered Bridge funding, but have not yet received a check from them. Lindsey speculated that it may be because of a change in American Rescue Plan rules in which projects like the Covered Bridge are now eligible to receive those funds.
“Garrett and I spent a good deal of time on the phone and in a Zoom meeting with Public Sector Consultants trying to answer a lot of questions of whether we can qualify for that,” Lindsey said.
Lindsey also noted the agency received $173,454.61 in interest earned, something he was excited about.
On the expense side, Lindsey said they budgeted approximately $3.1 million for heavy primary road projects, but came in at $3.5 million due to some projects that came in over budget. For local heavy road projects, $2.45 million was budgeted, but those costs came in at $3.08 million. To balance out those expenses, the agency reduced their snow removal expenses in 2023 down to $212,689 for primary roads and $268,779.18 for local roads.
Approximately $2.3 million was spent on bridge projects, mainly the Covered Bridge, in 2023, with some of the expenses of that project transferring over to 2024. They also had some engineering on the Prairie Corners bridge project, which totaled a little over $26,000; that project is expected to start in 2025.
Primary road maintenance came under budget for the road commission in 2023, according to the budget document, spending $2.25 million compared to the $2.7 million budgeted. Local road maintenance did the same, coming in at $3.4 million compared to the originally-budgeted $3.9 million.
Overall, Lindsey was happy with how the 2023 budget shook out.
“We tried to get this thing all balanced, and we’ve had years we’ve tried to deficit spend,” Lindsey said. “The original budget we set, we intended to spend half a million worth of deficit spending, but now the way it stands it’s $170,000 to the good.”
Following his rundown of the 2023 budget amendments, Lindsey then turned his focus toward 2024. For revenues, he noted the agency is expected to get the majority of their $18.3 million in revenue from the MTF, to the tune of a projected $9,435,497. In addition, the agency is projected to receive approximately $1.08 million in High Risk Rural/Highway Safety Improvement Program grants, of which $542,567 will go to a continuation of the widening of Lutz Road, $180,000 would go to Millard Road as part of the project around the Millard Road/Roberts Road intersection, and $360,000 would go to a road sign project funded by the grant.
Lindsey noted that $256,000 for a Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) grant will be moved from the 2023 budget to 2024, because they have not received the check for it as of yet. They will be adding it in with another grant they are expected to receive in 2024 to put that line item at $547,118.
“We don’t know why; that paperwork’s been done for three or four months,” Lindsey said. “We also have another EGLE grant in 2024, so they’re all added together.”
In terms of local bridge program funding, $2.175 million is called for in the 2024 budget, $1.8 million of which is projected to go toward work on the South Fisher Lake Road bridge, while there will still be funds available for the Covered Bridge project. Surplus Transportation Program funding of $828,492 is expected to go to a project on North Angling Road in 2024. Lindsey added the agency is also expecting to receive $200,000 in a federal Safe Streets For All grant, which had its own line item in the budget. Township contributions are expected to be just under $1.1 million in 2024 for their projects for local matching.
In terms of projects for 2024, the agency lists out several major projects budgeted for the year with projected dollar amounts:
- North Angling Road: $1.2 million from federal funds and $100,000 from local funds
- Lutz Road: $602,852
- Millard Road: $2.38 million, which includes $200,000 allocation funding
- South Fisher Lake bridge: $2 million
- Shorts Road bridge: $100,000
The projects also call for $1 million more in estimated funding remaining for the Covered Bridge project.
Maintenance costs for the year include 60 miles of sealcoating at $24,000 per mile, plus $1 million in road maintenance and $250,000 of an EGLE chipseal grant. Approximately $25,000 is budgeted for maintenance of primary road bridges, $550,000 is budgeted for primary road snow removal, $320,000 is budgeted for primary road traffic control – which includes $200,000 of the sign safety grant – $75,000 for primary road drainage and $3,500 in primary road drain assessment costs.
For local roads, the agency is budgeting 47 miles of sealcoating at $24,000 per mile, 16 miles of local road gravel projects at $30,000 per mile to put three inches of new gravel down, $2.1 million of general local road maintenance, and another $250,000 of the EGLE chipseal grant. Approximately $40,000 is budgeted for local road bridge maintenance, $650,000 is budgeted for local road snow removal, $300,000 is budgeted for primary road traffic control – which includes another $200,000 of the sign safety grant – $150,000 for local road drainage and $3,500 for local road drain assessment.
As for capital outlay, it is projected to be around $1.66 million, noting that the agency will look to buy four new trucks in 2024, as well as pay the $465,000 for the land for a possible new gravel pit in Flowerfield Township.
At the bottom of the budget is a line for a Bridge Match Fund, which is expected to sit at $500,000 at the end of 2024. It is a new initiative for the road commission to put money aside to help match major bridge projects in future years.
Both resolutions to adopt the 2023 amended budget and the 2024 preliminary budget were approved unanimously.
In other business… - Lindsey announced in his report to the board that the new date for the re-opening of the Covered Bridge to initial traffic is now slated to be Jan. 12. He said crews are running a “bit behind schedule,” mostly due to some beam work that took longer than expected.
Robert Tomlinson can be reached at 279-7488 or robert@threeriversnews.com.