Marshall County is taking steps to better fund road improvements over the next year.
During Monday night’s Marshall County Council meeting, resolution’s from the County’s communities were presented showing support for an increase in both a Local Option Highway User Tax and a County Economic Development Income Tax.
Raising those taxes would be part of a long-term approach to managing Marshall County’s roadways. Separate, but related to that matter was a $1-million Local Option Income Tax distribution from the state of Indiana.
County Commissioner Kevin Overmyer presented the information to the County Council. He says that figure almost perfectly matches state grant requirements for additional road funding.
“We are allowed by the state, for that grant money, they raised it to $1-million,” says Overmyer. “I know we got $1.1-mllion form the LOIT distribution. We’d like to use that money.”
The state has expressed myriad reasons for attaching stipulations for accessing additional funds for road construction use.
Instead, the Council opted to deposit the LOIT distribution into the Highway Department’s Motor Vehicle Highway Fund. That would require them to use some of the $1.5-million found by financial analysts in the County’s General Fund for the grant match.
Council member Jon Van Vactor says he has not problem placing the $1.1-million in LOIT funds with the highway department.
“It’s money we weren’t expecting to have anyway,” says Van Vactor. “So here’s a problem they can use that money towards. And if they can get a $1-million match for that, that brings it up to $2-million.”
In addition to the LOIT and matching moves, the Marshall County Council also chose to hold a public hearing on a long-term funding plan for roads.
The County Council inquired about the rates at which the taxes should be set. Those details are expected to be worked out following the public hearing.
