Proceeds from gas tax set for Escambia
The Escambia County (Ala.) Commission has until Aug. 31 to adopt an annual plan with a detailed list of road and bridge projects the county anticipates completing through the Rebuild Alabama Act, which will be funded by the new gasoline tax approved by the Alabama Legislature.
The Legislature passed a 10-cent per gallon increase over the next three years. The initial 6-cents a gallon tax increase will take effect on Sept. 1, 2019 and will increase 2 cents on Oct. 1, 2020 and another 2 cents on Oct. 1 2021. The gasoline tax bill also allows for indexing calculations beginning Oct. 1, 2023 and is limited to increasing or decreasing the tax by 1 cent every two years based on the National Highway Construction Cost Index.
Escambia County Engineer Bill Bridges told commissioners at a recent administrative workshop that the county will receive $400,000, beginning Oct. 1, 2019, in lieu of federal funding to be used on major and minor collectors on roads and bridges.
Once the entire 10 cents per gallon is collected, state officials estimate Escambia County will receive $856,872 per year in new tax revenue. The county cannot use that money for salaries, benefits or any other form of compensation for employees or contractors, equipment or vertical construction.
The funds can be used for the preservation, improvement and maintenance of transportation infrastructure and may also be used as matching funds for federal road and bridge projects. It can also be used to pay debt for road and bridge projects and joint projects between counties or between cities and counties.
Under the Rebuild Alabama Act, $10 million per year has been allocated statewide for local government road and bridge projects and each county has an opportunity to apply for grants within that project. Counties may also apply for the Alabama Transportation Rehabilitation and Improvement Program (ATRIP) II program, which will allocate between $30 million and $50 million annually.
According to state officials, eligible projects for ATRIP funds will be those of local interest on the state-maintained highway system, which may include local roads and bridges essential to such projects, with an emphasis on economic growth, public safety and stability.
