Road Commission, County Giving Away Tri-Party Funds

The following is a release from the Road Commission for Oakland County.

The Road Commission for Oakland County (RCOC), in conjunction with the Oakland County Board of Commissioners, has put out a one-time call to Oakland County communities seeking road improvement projects that could be constructed this year or next that would be able to take advantage of $2.9 million in unused Tri-Party Program funds.

The annual Tri-Party Program involves one-third funding from Oakland County general government, one third from RCOC and one third from the community. Projects are selected by the communities on RCOC roads with the approval of the Road Commission.

Each community is entitled to a share of the annual Tri-Party Program funding based on several factors. For cities and villages these factors include miles of county roads and the number of accidents on those roads. For townships, a third factor, population, is added.

In recent years, the Tri-Party Program has had an annual budget of $3 million, based on the Oakland County Board of Commissioners’ willingness to contribute $1 million. However, due to the poor economy, over the last several years, some communities have not been able to utilize their share of Tri-Party dollars because they could not provide the local share, resulting in the one-time availability of the $2.9 million in unused funds.

“The County Board of Commissioners wants to make sure these dollars are used to improve our roads, and do not languish in a bank account,” explained Board Chairman Mike Gingell. “I am very pleased that we are ensuring that these dollars will be put to good use as quickly as possible.”

RCOC Chairman Eric Wilson concurred. “Given the continually worsening condition of our roads, resulting from years of declining state road funding, we need to make sure every available dollar is invested in the system,” Wilson stated. “This effort lets those communities who have available matching funds move ahead with badly needed projects.”

Communities interested in applying for some of the available funds are asked to submit a request identifying the project and amount of funding needed to the Road Commission by Sept. 5. All Oakland County communities have been notified of this opportunity.

The communities must be willing to proceed with the projects this year or next and the projects must address either the surface condition of a county road or improve the safety of the county road network.

RCOC will select the projects that receive the available funding.