WARREN – Trumbull County Engineer David DeChristofaro is requesting that the Trumbull County Commissioners provide $1 million from the county’s general fund to provide matching funds for state and federal road projects for which his office has obtained grants.
DeChristofaro said that despite the engineer’s office obtaining a variety of grants over the past five years to pay for more than $16.5 million in projects, it cannot do them because the county is required to provide nearly $4.2 million in matching funds.
“I would hate to lose nearly $12.5 million in grants because we could not find match money,” DeChristofaro said. “We just don’t have it.”
On Thursday, he tried to convince commissioners to provide $1 million, which would allow some of the projects to get done.
DeChristofaro, along with Gary Shaffer, Trumbull County’s deputy engineer, said their office has grants for 11 federal projects with a total value of $14.6 million; two state projects with a total value of $1.9 million; and four local projects with a total value of $695,559.
The most expensive of the federal projects is Market Street, with a total cost of $5,386,491.27, which includes a local match of $479,055.95. It is followed by the Austintown Warren Road bridge replacement with a total cost of $5,045,198, which includes a local match of $1,036,484.63.
A Genesee Avenue/Elm Road project has a total construction cost of $1,062,056.80, which includes a $212,411.36 local match.
“This is the first time, I believe, the engineer’s office has made this request to the commissioners,” he said. “Our funding has been pretty flat over the last 10 years.”
The engineer’s office has, and will continue, to provide money from its budget to provide matching funds for the grants. It has, on average, provided $1 million for matching funds.
“With the $1 million from the county’s general fund, on top of what we normally provide, we will be able to do some of the projects,” he said. “I don’t want to lose grants that are on the verge of being lost.”
The engineer’s office has an annual $10 million budget. It requires approximately $8 million for its operational budget and another $1 million for other projects, leaving between $1 million and $1.6 million to provide matching funds.
“We are cutting everything we can, but the work just doesn’t stop,” he said. “We still have 372 bridges (to inspect) that have not been reduced and 464 miles of roads that have not been reduced.”
DeChristofaro said other nearby counties have been able to raise matching funds because they have passed license plate fees and others have passed sales taxes to pay for road improvements. However, DeChristofaro is not asking the commissioners to take either of these measures.
Shaffer said if the county does not provide the local match for projects, it eventually will make it difficult for the county to receive future awards.
Commissioner Rick Hernandez suggested putting something on the ballot to determine whether Trumbull County voters are willing to pay for better bridges and better roads.
“I personally would like to give you money for roads, but we are crushed on our budgets too,” he said. “We are going through budget talks at the moment. We don’t know where we are at. We need to leave it to the people.”
Commissioner Tony Bernard said they need to reach out to state legislators to give the county more money.
“They are down there with $4 billion in rainy day funds,” he said. “They collected more than $1.2 billion over and above what was anticipated in sales taxes. They gave $725 million for a gas tax holiday, which was supposed to reduce gas prices and the gas prices went up.”
Bernard wants to send letters to the state legislators to obtain local funds.
Hernandez said commissioners have been sending letters to the legislators for other concerns, but they have not been getting anything.
“If we are not receiving state money, then we have to make hard decisions and maybe give it to the people to decide,” he said. “People complain they want good roads, but are they willing to show up for them?”
DeChristofaro said the state and federal government are willing to provide money.
“That’s where we have gotten the $12 million in grants,” he said.
Commissioner Denny Malloy said the commissioners have, in the past, been able to find money to provide matching funds for organizations like the Trumbull County Land Bank.
“We have to prioritize, somehow, the match, if we are going to get more money,” Malloy said. “Somehow, we have to figure out a formula, down the road in our budget, that match funds need to be prioritized. That’s free money sitting out there that we are leaving on the table. I don’t want to see that happen. We have to prepare for growth to happen.”
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