Capital Projects Commission Meets on Roads Referendum

Greg Wilson/Anderson Observer

The newly formed Anderson County Capital Projects Sales met for the first time Monday to help educate and engage public support for a one-cent Capital Projects referendum aimed at generating funds to repair and maintain the county’s aging roads and bridges.

Deputy Anderson County Administrator Matt Hogan said decades of neglect and lack of sustained funding has created a great need for revenue to take care of roads and bridges.

“We looked at a $25 road fee, which would have generated about $6 to 8 million a year, which, at a million dollars to pave one mile of the road is not going to get us very far,” said Hogan. We looked at millage increases, but at one mill equaling about $1 million, it is just not enough. So we're looking at this option, and hopefully voters in the county will see this is probably one of our better options, one that will raise $250 million over the next six-seven year. This is the kind of funding we need to dig out of the hole that we've created here.”

Anderson County has 1,553 miles of county roads, 379 miles of municipal roads and another 1,250 miles of state roads, many of which are main arteries in the towns and cities.

The proposed capital tax referendum, which will include parameters and details on how the funds will be used exclusively for roads and bridges, requires the appointment of a commission to oversee the process. The following six commissioners were appointed by Anderson County and municipalities within the county.

Joey Black, a civil engineer for Thomas and Hutton with a background in road construction, is one co-chair of the committee; Jamie Cantrell, Principal and Client Advisor at World Insurance Associates LLC in Anderson; Richard Dorn, President at D&B Glass Inc. in Belton, is the other co-chair of the committee; Michael Mance, president of Mance Multimedia in Anderson; Matt Reeves Director of Multifamily Projects at Creative Builders; Trey Thomas, President/COO, Hill Electric Company, Inc., in Anderson;

Cantrell and Reeves were not at Monday’s meeting.

“We would really like to thank the commissioners who have agreed to do this,” said Anderson County Administrator Rust Burns, who noted the positions were voluntary and unpaid.

The commission, working with mayors and town/city councils and feedback from citizens, is charged with compiling a priority roads list which will appear on the ballot in November.

Two more public meetings at the courthouse, June 23 and June 30 at 5:30 p.m. are scheduled before the commission sends their proposals to the county council.

“The final list won't be ready till about a week and a half from now,” said Anderson County Roads and Bridges Manager Jonathan Fox. “That gives the commission plenty of time for input from the public. We’ve been working with the municipalities and we want to hear from everybody.”

Anderson County approved a $337,000 detailed study and analysis of every mile of county roads in 2023, which determined that one third of all roads were in failed or failing condition. One third of all county bridges were deemed impassable for fire trucks and school buses.

The county used the data from that study to develop a priority list of roads, which also factored in those which are most used and those which are potentially the most dangerous.

The commission will now evaluate those proposed projects and those from municipalities and determine which roads to fund from proceeds of the sales tax if it is approved. That list will be sent to the county council, will then be asked to adopt an ordinance to approve the list and the ballot and determine whether to issue bonds. Funding will be targeted for roads and bridges, but will not include widening roads.

If approved, the fate of the referendum will be up to voters in November. If approved, the one-cent sales tax will be in effect May 1, 2026.

"I think it's important to have this open framework and open mind about what needs to be done in Anderson County and what needs to be accomplished,” said Commission Co-Chairman Richard Dorn. “I want to listen and see what everybody has to say and try to get the roads in better shape in Anderson County."

Dorn said he wants the process to be transparent.

"We're going to be out in the open,” said Dorn. “Anybody can feel free to call me if they want to. Tonight was our initial meeting, and this is the first time that we've gotten together and been able to really discuss any of these items with anybody. So tonight was more of an informative meeting to try to get a general scope of what we're going to be doing and what we're tasked with. And our task is to come up with something to present to counsel to give them a list of roads that we think are in need of these repairs and worthy of being included in the list.”

Anderson County has already hosted several public meetings seeking citizen comments on safety of roads in the county, which could also serve as information for the commission.

The current schedule calls for a plan that the county council can vote on first reading July 15. The deadline at the State Elections Commission for the referendum to appear on the Nov. 4 ballot.