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By Tim Brown, Operations Manager, County Information Project |
Every year each county is required to report their county road and bridge expenditures from the prior fiscal year to the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. Until that report is filed, the county can not receive a distribution from the County and Road District Highway Fund.
In reviewing those reports, it was noted that, statewide, counties are increasing their total road and bridge expenditures. In 2003, counties expended $27.40 per capita (in 1997 dollars) on road and bridge construction, maintenance, and rehabilitation; right of way acquisition; utility construction; and other road and bridge costs. That number dropped sharply to a low of $22.92 in 2004, probably due to the recession, before steadily rising to $25.10 in 2006.1
The statewide numbers can hide the details of what is happening in individual counties. For example, the accompanying map shows the percentage change in total road and bridge expenditures from 1997 to 2006 (adjusted for inflation). While overall spending was up over this period, a large number of counties actually decreased their road and bridge expenditures in both actual and inflation adjusted dollars.
Declining road and bridge expenditures might be expected in certain circumstances, such as in a small rural county with a declining population or due to the timing of major projects. That may not explain the decrease in spending in all of the counties.
For example, Jefferson, Lubbock, Parker, and Potter all saw sharp declines in road and bridge expenditures from 1997 to 2006 (99.1%, 56.9%, 5.1%, and 98.4% respectively) most of which occurred after 2004.
Lubbock and Potter anchor a cluster of counties that experienced declining expenditures that extends east to Wilbarger. Many such counties can be found in the western third of the state (as can many of the negative or low population growth counties).
Most of the concentrations of counties with large percentage increases can be found in the eastern two-thirds of the state around Harris and Travis counties, as well as along the border from Maverick to Hidalgo. A smaller cluster appears near Wise and Cook counties, just beyond Dallas-Fort Worth. These are the counties where one would expect to find new subdivisions springing up. Growth can often bring the need for improved infrastructure, which may require upgrading dirt roads to asphalt or the construction of entirely new roads.
