PLYMOUTH — The Marshall County Council will make an additional contribution to the current budget for the County’s road plan but maybe not as much as Superintendant Jason Peters would like.

The Council’s Highway Subcommittee reported to the board on Monday that during a recent meeting with Peters, they went over the county’s long-term road maintenance/improvement plan in particular that which is planned for 2025.
Peters told the subcommittee that his department was employing different procedures such as chip and seal to maximize the amount of highway that can be addressed but said that the Department of Local Government Finance had restricted the amount of funding that the county would be allowed to spend on highways and that restriction would leave the department at least $1 million short of keeping pace with the long term plan and in reality an additional $1 million would be needed to fully keep pace.
The subcommittee told the Council that they recommended the initial $1 million be allocated but would not recommend the second expenditure. Members of the committee made their recommendation based on economic uncertainties involving SB 1 that will provide relief of property taxes and also other concerns such as the current lawsuit against the county by Tamarack Solar and other areas of the county seeking increased funding in the coming year for various reasons.
Council member Nicole Cox reported to the board that it appeared that the amount of Indiana’s Community Crossings funds — used for road funding around the state — was also in question as it appeared the general assembly would require counties to have a “wheel tax” in order to receive full funding.
Discussion of the Council centered on addressing the immediate need of the Highway Department with an additional allocation of $1 million in July. Once the General Assembly has completed its session later in April, the Council would consider the second $1 million to be allocated in August.


























