Navajo County could be heading down some difficult roads in the near future due to continued cuts to Highway User Revenue Funds (HURF) received from the state. The county receives an allocation of HURF funding each year for road maintenance that is determined by a formula that uses three factors, fuel sales, road miles and population, to determine each county’s share. Due to the economic downturn fuel sales are down and so is the population in rural areas.

Utilizing the revenues from the past three months, the projections for fiscal year 2012 indicate a loss of revenue of approximately $834,000 for the county. In addition, the state has swept $746,317 away from county’s HURF dollars to help fund state agencies, specifically the Department of Public Safety. The nearly $1.6 million loss in funding will mean a reduction in road maintenance and repairs, especially in rural areas.

Information released by the county shows that the Public Works Department currently overlays paved road every 15 to 25 years, depending on the condition of the road. The recent reductions to revenue will only allow for five miles of paved roads to be overlaid every year. Since the county has 341 miles of paved roads, this translates to a frequency of every 68 years. In addition, gravel roads need to be bladed multiple times during the year, depending on the traffic volume, and gravel roads need to be resurfaced with new gravel material every five to 10 years. These schedules will also be extended, resulting in road surfaces that have more washboarding and rutting, resulting in dustier road conditions, and wear and tear on vehicles.

According to Navajo County Finance Director James Menlove, most, but not all, of the cuts were anticipated.

“We won’t be able to do much more than maintenance projects this year, just enough to get by. There will be no new asphalt laid,” he stated.

Menlove explained that the way the budget is laid out, any work not able to be completed this year as part of the five-year plan would be pushed forward until next year in hopes that funding will become available.