Groceries Could be Excluded from Roads Referendum

Greg Wilson/Anderson Observer

The Anderson County Legislative Delegation is expected to vote to allow Anderson County Council to change the verbiage of the proposed November referendum which could provide funding for county roads and bridges.

The revised referendum will remove groceries from the list of items which would add a one-cent sales tax. The move would reduce annual funding for roads by $10-12 million, but still provide more than $30 million annually for roads and bridges work.

The county continues to face the growing challenge of funding road maintenance/repair of the 1,576 miles of county owned roads, with close to a third of these roads in poor or failing condition. Nearly a third of county bridges are not safe for fire trucks or school buses and in need of updates and repairs.

Funding for roads and bridges, which is expensive, with the cost of repairing one-mile of road is close to $1 million. The referendum, if approved in November by voters, would allow the county to completely repair and maintain roads for the first time in history.

County Roads and Bridges Manager Matt Hogan discusses the challenges, as well as the county's response time to potholes and replacing and maintaining road signs in this interview with the Anderson Observer.