Ohio Senate directs more funds to local road projects
More state fuel tax money would be diverted for local road and bridge projects, and county officials would need the OK from voters before approving a new vehicle registration fee under transportation budget changes Monday by the Senate.
A Senate committee altered or scrapped several of the House-passed changes to the two-year, $7.8 billion measure.
One cent of the state's 28-cent fuel tax currently goes to the Local Transportation Improvement Program. The Senate would raise that to 1.25 cents next year and 1.5 cents in 2019, diverting another $48 million for local road and bridge projects on top of the $124 million already in the budget.
County engineers and other local officials have testified about the major backlog of road and bridge maintenance needs across the state.
Read more: http://www.dispatch.com/news/20170321/ohio-senate-directs-more-funds-to-local-road-projects