County engineer warns bridge fund is falling short

County Engineer Levi Leffert told the county commissioners that the fund used to support bridge work and drainage in the county is running at an annual deficit.

Leffert told commissioners he noticed the drain on the Cumulative Bridge Fund when he was first hired. He held off on coming to the commissioners while taking time to review the continued expenses and see if their were any budgetary decisions that could be made to adjust spending. Unable to see a route forward under the c

The Cumulative Bridge Fund pays for much more than bridges. It covers upkeep, inspection, repair and replacement for 167 bridges, about 3,600 culverts and 325 small structures, plus creek crossings and guardrails. It also covers bridges inside city limits with spans of 20 feet or more. The money goes to the crew wages and benefits (Dubois County is the only county in Indiana with its own bridge crew, according to Leffert), stone, concrete and steel, equipment, contractors and inspections.

“So it’s not just bridges; it’s all drainage-related structures,” Leffert explained.

Over the past five years, Leffert said, the fund has run about $289,000 short each year. He said costs for materials, contractors, consultants and inspections are rising faster than revenue. He also said that the fund will lose revenue from its main sources: property taxes; FIT, or Financial Institutions Tax; Excise Taxes; and Commercial Vehicle Excise Tax.

Leffert also noted that the effect of Senate Bill 1, the state’s property tax law, on the fund is unknown. He added that the financial institutions tax and commercial vehicle excise tax, worth $10,000 to $15,000 a year combined and excise tax, worth about $80,000 a year, is shifting to the county’s general fund. Commissioner Chad Blessinger said the council could reallocate those funds back to the bridge fund if it wishes.

Combining the annual shortfall and these funding changes, Leffert put the yearly shortfall at about $400,000.

Though the annual revenue if falling short, the cumulative bridge fund currently holds about $2.43 million in cash and CDs. However, Leffert said more than a million dollars of that was set aside for the City of Jasper’s 15th Street bridge project. The city postponed the 15th Street extension project because of funding uncertainty, so the funds have been released.

Leffert said the freed money, about $1.15 million, is now planned for two high-priority bridges:

• Bridge 94, designed in 2023 but never bid. Leffert said funds weren’t there, and the bridge’s location near the potential Mid-States Corridor path put it on hold.
• Bridge 56, rated in poor condition, with construction and design costs topping $1 million.

Leffert said he wants to keep a reserve of $1.2 million to $1.5 million for emergencies, such as a bridge lost in a flood. After a major bridge replacement, the balance would drop to about that minimum.

He also said the bridge crew’s 17-year-old excavator will need replacing soon, which could cost over $350,000.

County Auditor Sandy Morton said her budget shows the fund ending the year with a reserve of about $1.7 million to $1.8 million. “So it’s not like we haven’t been monitoring and making sure you have what you need,” she said.

Leffert said the fund has what it needs now, but not over the next few years.

Citing a state Local Technical Assistance Program (LTAP) report, Leffert said 53% of county bridges are now in good condition, down from 56% in 2021–22. He called that roughly stable.

But Leffert said he expects bridge conditions to decline over the next several years at current funding. “The writing is on the wall, in my opinion, that we’re underfunded,” he said.

Many bridges were built around the same time, he explained, and those bridges are nearing the end of their useful service life.

He recommended the county be more proactive in preventative maintenance. “A timely bridge deck overlay cost might cost 50 to 100 thousand dollars; it’s going to give us another 30 years,” Leffert told commissioners. “However, we do nothing because we don’t have the funds for it, and the deck only last ten more years, and it requires a full replacement.”

This could cost the county up to $250,000, he said.

Leffert did not ask the commissioners to act, but he said re-evaluating the bridge tax rate and finding long-term funding are high priorities. The county’s rate is $0.0349 per $100 of assessed value, compared with an average of $0.0434 across 18 southern Indiana counties Leffert surveyed.

Morton said the rate hasn’t changed since the early 2000s and would require public hearings to be increased. It would also pull funding from other areas of the county’s budget.

Leffert suggested the county could assess the tax rate more often and raise or lower it based on infrastructure needs.

He reiterated that if they maintain the status quo, bridge conditions across the county will decline.

Leffert plans to take the same presentation to the county council at its next meeting.