The Starke County Motor Vehicle Highway (MVH) funds are expected to take a hit as a direct response to COVID-19.
Starke County Highway Superintendent Rik Ritzler gave the commissioners a financial update last week during their regular virtual meeting on Zoom. The financial outlook came from an LTAP webinar that outlined the loss in gas tax revenue over the next several months.
“We’re looking at a 40 percent drop in our MVH draw from May to July,” explained Ritzler. “Instead of the expected $265,000 a month we normally receive we will probably receive about $159,000 each month. This equates to about a $318,000 loss in expected funding. It’s about 10 percent of our annual budget. We may lose more than that depending on the price of gas and how quickly the motorists return to the roadways.”
Ritzler indicated that there is one aspect that will help the county when it comes to projects.
“We should be able to absorb this loss by relying on the recycled millings we received last year from the U.S. 35 resurfacing project. We originally planned to use that material to expand our paving program, but now we’re going to use that recycled material to replace the paving miles we’ll lose from the loss of funds. If all goes well, we should be able to maintain our planned level of paving miles and production throughout the year.”
He commented that they will be able to save $250,000 by using the recycled material. He added that the Highway Department already saved about $50,000 in fuel costs, equipment repair and material use during the COVID-19 shutdown.
He said the highway department should be sustainable as long as there isn’t a loss of more than 25 percent of the budget. If it is more catastrophic, then the department may have to ask the county for help with funds. That has not happened for about seven years.
