County will not pursue road and bridge ballot initiative this fall

Will monitor federal/state funding, ramp up outreach and fine-tune estimates

By Katherine Nettles

After a presentation last week from staff and a consulting firm about the county’s road and bridge maintenance and ongoing funding challenges, Gunnison County commissioners decided this week they will not pursue a ballot measure this fall to increase taxes for the purpose of stabilizing local road and bridge maintenance and funding. They will more likely develop a ballot initiative for 2026, after taking the time to understand the changing federal and state funding mechanisms, collect public input and home in on their own departmental maintenance priorities. 

During a work session on May 13, assistant county manager for public works Martin Schmidt and representatives from KLJ Engineering presented a conditions report on Gunnison County roadways, bridges, funding constraints and maintenance needs. 

The primary funding for road and bridge comes from payment in lieu of taxes (PILT), and highway users tax fund (HUTF) which include fuel taxes, vehicle registrations, driver’s license fees and traffic violations. The latter have been in decline for the past three decades, while PILT is more significant but also discretionary from county commissioner funds. The county’s general funds cannot be used, and Schmidt reviewed that his has been a cash strapped department for decades.

“Without that [PILT] funding we would be in a bad spot,” he said.  

Schmidt explained that the county has leveraged state and federal grants for major projects such as the $30 million Cottonwood Pass paving project, Taylor Canyon project and for the bridges on Kebler Pass. He said without a more reliable, dedicated source of funding the county is continually deferring maintenance and allowing further degradation of roads. “In a department where it comes down to fixing roads, there aren’t a lot of efficiencies to find,” said Schmidt of his efforts to find cost cutting opportunities.

“It’s been a long-term discussion, of more than 40 years,” he summarized. His predecessor, Marlene Crosby, also attended the meeting having discussed this issue repeatedly with commissioners during her tenure as public works director as well.

Last year Schmidt and commissioners determined that it would be best to take a full inventory of the roadways and bridges in the county, their conditions and improvement priorities and cost estimates for current and ongoing maintenance before bringing a ballot initiative to the voters. Schmidt took that on with KLJ Engineering, and the group reviewed their findings at the May 13 work session. 

According to KLJ’s report the county has 418 miles of roadway under its jurisdiction, and 30% of that (127 miles) is paved and considered primary roads. The remaining 291 miles are mostly gravel. All roads were assigned a quality ranging from very poor to very good/new. The conditions of all roads are now uploaded in an AI geotagged technology which the county subscribes to, and the system will keep ongoing data on roadway conditions every time a staff member drives a roadway using cameras to assesses crack sealing, surface conditions, center line striping, signage, pothole locations and more. This will supplement the “windshield assessments” and institutional knowledge of staff. 

“We have access to worldwide training,” added Schmidt. “It’s a very objective way to maintain data on our roads.” 

KLJ representatives said the technology can be made accessible to the public as well. 

Schmidt said generally the county often performs critical needs and performing maintenance at two to three times the recommended length of time.

KLJ determined the estimated costs associated with roadways that were in poor condition or in need of improvement, repair, or minor or major reconstruction. Those costs were, in total, estimated to be $38 million. The more acute needs cost analysis could be less, however.

Commissioner chair Laura Puckett Daniels said that since taking public office she has come to realize that roads are the issue commented on most from her constituents. “People are already engaged in this issue,” she said. 

Commissioner Liz Smith was struck by the total deferred maintenance cost analysis which rivals the county’s general fund balance.

“There isn’t a path forward without more funds,” said Schmidt. He added that some roads might have to go back to gravel in the future.

“And some people would love that,” said Puckett Daniels. “But there are many others who would not.”

There are also factors of traffic impacts, and the varying condition of the county’s 48 bridges.

Choosing the slow roll…

After allowing the information from last week’s work session to settle in, commissioners revisited the conversation during their regular meeting on May 20. They decided that despite the urgent situation, they did not want to rush into a ballot measure without extensive public outreach, input and messaging around the reasons for such a ballot initiative.

Commissioner Jonathan Houck said his inclination was to wait a year due to competing interests with the city of Gunnison’s plans to ask voters to help fund a new fire station this fall.

Smith said it might be better to give people more time to digest the proposals. She said she wants to know more about the plans for outreach. “I just want to make sure we aren’t sort of sitting on our heels,” she said of the next year.

Puckett Daniels said KLJ had made some strong points about having the public weigh in. “The report is hot off the presses, the decline of severance tax is real,” she said, adding that the county is in the final stages of hiring its first-ever communications director which could be helpful to get the message out. “I’m leaning toward delaying also,” she said, but asked Schmidt and county manager Matthew Birnie for their input. Both indicated that the current situation has become the status quo, and getting the timing and messaging right would possibly create better results in the long run.

Houck said with some uncertainty around state and federal funding mechanisms, it would be good to be certain of the real costs needed for the long-term. “We don’t want to have to be in a position of asking voters and then having to turn around and ask again.” 

County attorney Matthew Hoyt said the board of county commissioners cannot advocate for a ballot initiative using taxpayer money, but that a commissioner running a re-election campaign, such as Puckett Daniels might be doing in 2026, could use their own private campaign to advocate for such things. 

“A full year gives us time to thread that needle better,” said Hoyt. 

The commissioners agreed to wait for 2026 and get more information, a campaign strategy and a more detailed acute needs assessment in place in the meantime

“It’s the slow roll,” concluded Puckett Daniels.