La Plata County commissioners indicated earlier this month they would approve a staff recommendation to prioritize repaving County Road 501 over paving County Road 301.
It didn’t take long for residents of County Road 301 to voice their objections.
“It is absolutely impassable,” Rob Carll, a resident of County Road 301, told commissioners Tuesday at the board’s business meeting.
Another resident called the road’s condition “unbelievable.”
The discussion once again sparked a conversation over the county’s road and bridge funding, which is likely to continue in coming months. Ballot initiatives to raise the mill levy and increase road and bridge funding failed in 2015 and 2016.
County roads 301 and 501 have been on the radar for staff at the La Plata County Road and Bridge Department for some time. County Road 301 runs north-south on the Florida Mesa near Pastorius Reservoir. County Road 501 runs between Bayfield and Vallecito Reservoir.
Jim Davis, director of Public Works, told commissioners the decision to prioritize County Road 501 came from the realization that the degradation of an asphalt road would ultimately place a higher burden on the taxpayer.
County Manager Chuck Stevens called such a situation “worst-case scenario.”
Insufficient funding forced the department to make the decision.
The budgetary challenges the department is facing stem from both insufficient revenue from county property taxes as well as some state laws restricting road and bridge funding.
La Plata County has some of the lowest property taxes in the state. Stevens highlighted that the per capita contribution of each county resident to the Road and Bridge Fund is just $23.27 per year. Property tax contributions to the fund totaled just over $1.2 million last year.
To supplement, the county allocated just over $5 million from the sales tax to the Road and Bridge Fund this year for the second year in a row. Under state law, the county may not move General Fund dollars over to the Road and Bridge Fund, and a legislative push to change that failed in 2021.
“Obviously that is not sustainable,” said county spokesman Ted Holteen. “They (commissioners) did it last year and this year, but it cannot keep happening.”
County residents can be quick to complain about the quality of some roads, which the board recognized was due in part to the harsh winter, and in part to the shoestring budget with which the Road and Bridge Department must operate.
“We want to improve the roads ... but that’s the reality of the situation we’re in,” Stevens said in an interview with The Durango Herald.
Commissioner Matt Salka said in Tuesday’s meeting that it might be time to consider a more sustainable course of action.
“We really need to have a discussion on – I hate this word – but, taxes,” he said. “... If we want better roads, we all really need to consider instead of that $23 per year on property taxes, we all may need to pay a little bit more.”
Commissioner Marsha Porter-Norton said the topic would be a priority discussion at the board’s upcoming retreat.
To address the more immediate concerns of residents who use County Road 301, grading operations began Wednesday.
Stevens told commissioners that staff was investigating a way to redirect maintenance dollars toward the 301 project. The road is likely to be paved with chip seal rather than asphalt because the former is less expensive, although it has a shorter life span.
“The cost is significantly less, it’s something that our road and bridge crews can do in-house versus the contract paving,” Davis told commissioners.
A budget reallocation to approve funding for the project is likely to go before the board on April 11.
rschafir@durangoherald.com
