Dear Friends and Neighbors:
Chairman Kevin Geraghty (Board of Supervisors) has asked Warren County to investigate privatizing the paving of county roads due to quality issues and the cost of a new paving machine. Source: http://poststar.com/news/local/warren-county-looks-at-privatization-of-road-paving/article_1e76441a-b812-570a-b7d7-640af3cef09b.html
The quality issues Chairman Geraghty brought to light have to be addressed. If the Warren County DPW can’t address them privatization may be the only option.
While on this important topic, I would also ask the Chairman, the Budget Officer and the board to look at two other issues regarding Warren County roads:
Issue 1: Why was significant money left unspent last year (2014) when our roads are in need of serious repair? According to the County Administrator’s office the Treasurer reported $659,715 in road funds were carried over from 2014 to 2015.*
Rather than leave important road work left undone and leave allocated funding unspent the county should look at hiring private firms to supplement what the county DPW crews can do. One of the best things the county did last year was take $1 million from savings and put it towards roads. Now we learn much of it was unspent.
Issue 2: Is the county spending enough county taxpayer money on our roads? Supervisor Beaty and I have been calling on the county to budget annually more county money for roads.
In an email from the County Administrator’s office the 2015 budget for 249 miles of Warren county roads is “$2,200,052.” * In comparison Saratoga County’s 2015 budget for 363 miles of county roads is “$5,477, 204.” *
This works out to $8,836 allocated per mile of Warren county road versus $15,089 per mile of Saratoga county road.
Granted Saratoga is a bigger, richer county, but Saratoga is spending nearly twice as much per road mile. Does this seem right to you? Supervisor Beaty and I believe we can do better in Warren County.
I applaud Chairman Geraghty’s leadership for challenging the DPW on road repair quality. I would also challenge him by saying it does not go far enough.
He should also challenge the DPW on why important road work was not done last year to ensure this doesn’t happen again. While doing so challenge the budget officer, budget committee and board to find more local funding for our roads.
Roads are a true economic driver and a necessity in our daily lives. The county has to do better. Having Chairman Geraghty lead this effort is a positive sign. Actions will speak louder than words.
Mark Westcott
* Sources – To dig deeper on how Warren and Saratoga spend on roads and bridges, please click on the following links:
Warren County Administrator’s office and Warren DPW: http://www.westcottupny.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/County-Admin-Office-Road-Email-2015.pdf
Saratoga DPW – 2015 Saratoga County Road Budget: http://www.westcottupny.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/2015-Saratoga-DPW-Roads.pdf;
http://www.westcottupny.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Saratoga-DPW-NYS-CHIPS-funding.pdf;
http://www.westcottupny.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/2015-Saratoga-DPW-BRIDGE-CAPITAL-PLAN.pdf