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Highway User Funds Unlikely To Be Restored To Local Governments This Year

March 23rd, 2015 by WCBC Radio

After remaining optimistic for most of the current session of the Maryland General Assembly, Allegany County Commissioners President Bill Valentine is now conceding that it’s unlikely highway user funds will begin to be restored for local governments this year. It is just the latest setback for republican Governor Larry Hogan who has seen many of his priorities killed or stalled by the democrat controlled house and senate. The highway user revenues, which have been as high as $4 million for Allegany County in past years, have been nearly disappeared In the last six years leaving roads and bridges in local jurisdictions struggling to maintain transportation infrastructure. Since 2010, a former $555 million budget appropriation to supply local jurisdictions with transportation funding has been cut by $167 million. The total loss of roadway investment across Maryland has been $2.1 billion over the past five years, according to the Maryland Association of Counties. Valentine said that although the partisan bickering has lessened in Annapolis in recent weeks, it is probably too late to see highway fund restoration efforts revived…





 

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