Summit County officials are eyeing a tight budget for road and bridge maintenance next year as they say the cost of supplies, from asphalt to equipment, has roughly doubled since 2022 due to inflation. 

During a Nov. 21 Summit Board of County Commissioners meeting, county staff presented a five-year plan aimed largely at improving county roads, many of which have fallen into disrepair. But based on staff projections, commissioners would need to roughly double their current budget for road maintenance next year to meet the need. 

“Asphalt prices have about doubled since COVID, and equipment has gone up significantly as well,” said Public Works Division Director Brent Sphan. 

According to Sphan, asphalt costs have gone from about $99 per ton before the pandemic to around $200 currently. Heavy equipment, such as a loader, which is used for myriad public works projects, now costs about $500,000 — up from $300,000 pre-pandemic. 

It comes as officials continue to express an eagerness to boost the overall condition index of county roads. The index measures a road’s asphalt condition on a 100-point scale, with 100 considered excellent while zero is virtually impassable. Sphan said the average rating for all 91 miles of paved county road is 62.51. 

“Think of it like you think of grades, 90% and above is an A,” Sphan said. “Our average (index) is 62, so that’s like a D.” 

Sphan said the county has a goal of maintaining roads at a “D or better,” but wiggle room in forthcoming county budgets could help staff move the goalpost further. 

With a combined value of $154 million for all county roads and an average road service life of about 25 years, Sphan said the county would need to spend about $6.2 million every year to maintain all its roads. 

Within five years, that spending could grow to $7.1 million when accounting for a 3% annual increase in inflation. Within 10 years, it could be $8.5 million. In the current 2024 budget proposal, there is $3.3 million for road maintenance. 

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This only represents a portion of the overall spending from the county’s road and bridge fund next year, with the bulk of the funds scheduled to go towards two major projects. One is a $2 million repair to Straight Creek Road while the other is a $4 million rebuild of Swan Mountain Road — with potentially $18 million more for that project coming in the form of grants. 

Other projected spending from the road and bridge fund next year includes $1 million in administrative costs and $2.6 for equipment, which includes leasing and replacement. 

Commissioner Elisabeth Lawrence said she would like to potentially see more road work elsewhere in the county reflected in the 2024 budget, adding that while Straight Creek and Swan Mountain are “two huge roads and important projects,” the county should try to do repairs to other, smaller segments of road. 

“At the end of the day, roads are really what we’re supposed to be doing as a county government,” Lawrence later added. 

Robert Jacobs, the county’s road and bridge director, said, “The biggest reason why we don’t have anything for Swan and Straight Creek (roads) budgeted at the moment for next year is because there’s not enough funding.” 

Summit County, like the rest of Colorado’s High Country, must contend with extreme weather that includes freezes, thaws and drainage from snowmelt that only makes a road’s condition more tenuous, staff added. 

Commissioner Nina Waters said, in summary, “We are at a D. We would like to be higher, but we are so far behind it’s going to take a real concerted effort because of our circumstances — the climate where we live, the amount of traffic and what we are managing.” 

Commissioner Tamara Pogue said, “If we can find more spare pennies, I personally would like for us to look for that investment number again” for future maintenance spending. 

According to Finance Director David Reynolds, much of that funding will have to come from the county’s general fund reserve. Officials have previously expressed concern about pulling too much out of the general fund which, despite a $6 million increase in property tax revenue projected for next year, is still stressed by inflation, they said. 

“I think it’s up to us to dig into our priorities and see what we want to prioritize,” Lawrence said. “Do we want to move an additional $200,000 from (general fund) reserve to start getting caught up? … That’s what I’m in favor of.”

County commissioners have until Jan. 10 to approve a 2024 budget after state lawmakers extended that deadline from Dec. 15 during a special session last week that led to changes in how property taxes will be assessed for Coloradans next year.