County Roads
It is important to remember, as local government struggles to balance
budgets and prioritize spending, that we remember why we elect people
to office. Most of us expect three primary services should be at the
top of the list for local government, cities and counties. Often they
are prioritized in this order:
#1 is Law Enforcement, citizens want
to feel safe and protected from criminals.
#2 is Fire and Safety, citizens
want a quick response from fire departments and ambulance services.
#3
is Roads, citizens want a well maintained street and highway system
to travel to and from work, transport goods and services and mitigate
congestion and traffic delays.
Generally local governments do a good job providing funding for #1 and #2, however whenever budgets are tight #3 is the first place to experience cuts, and El Dorado County has fallen into this trap. Eventually we all pay the price for roads in poor condition by the expensive wear and tear on our vehicles and, unfortunately, unsafe conditions for motorists. In addition, visitors to our foothill businesses such as wineries, Apple Hill, and unique community shops go elsewhere.
El Dorado County is a unique and special place, with endless opportunity. Many would like to invest in new economic development, however a crumbling road system does not encourage that. Recently it was recommended to our Board of Supervisors to pull two-million dollars from the County road program to help cover a projected budget deficit. This approach is short sighted and in the long run will cost taxpayers five times, as the cost of repairs to roadways grows exponentially when maintenance is deferred. The funding that was pulled from the road program was originally approved by voters to be specifically directed to the road program, however changes in the way the State returns revenue to the County has given policy makers an opportunity to ignore the voters intent. This decision is questionable at best and clearly does not reflect the intent of the voters.
It is clearly a difficult task for our elected official to prioritize funding in tough fiscal times, however it is critically important to take a balanced approach and reducing road funding is not balanced or cost effective. A dollar spent maintaining a road today will save us from spending five dollars tomorrow rebuilding that same road.