3. Public Works Road Diversion Impacts

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Impact of Diversion on Road Fund The Kittitas County Road Fund (Fund 106) is managed by the Public Works Department. Road funds support Public Works core functions necessary to help preserve, maintain, and operate the County road network. In 2025 the Public Works budget was reviewed and revised based on anticipated needs and current funding levels. Efforts were made to adjust the budget including decreasing the number of miles of preventative maintenance, changes to rates impacting the Equipment Rental and Revolving Fund, freezing two positions and reducing the amount allocated to local projects and bridge repair. These efforts, resulting in approximately$1.8 million in budget cuts, were done to stabilize the budget and provide room for future adjustments and potential shortfalls. Road Fund also reevaluated project programing in the six-year transportation plan, reducing the number of capital projects against future budgets. Additionally, Road experienced significant changes to revenue funding, most notably the partial phase out of Real Estate Excise Tax(REET2) in 2025 and total phase out in 2026, which had previously been used to help stabilize the road fund in addition to countering rising costs. Longterm road network needs remain in order to maintain and operate the County road network. Diverting funds from Public Works may provide short-term budget flexibility, but it will potentially create significant long-term impacts to infrastructure conditions and future obligations. Road funds are often used as local match for State or Federal grants in addition to providing maintenance and service when there are not granting sources available. Diverting those funds could reduce the County's ability to compete for, or accept, outside funding for transportation projects, hinder its ability to fund local dollar projects. A reduction of$400,000 to the Road Fund by diverting that funding to another fund will result in long term impacts to the road network. Changes to the preventative maintenance schedule will likely be the first impacted. This reduction in funding represents a decrease in the number of miles of road being maintained by approximately 34% (20.4 miles)annually. A reduction today may have short term financial benefits, but the long-term impact is a higher cost of repair in the future. When this preventive maintenance is delayed, road conditions typically deteriorate faster. Minor pavement defects can develop into larger issues. Delaying preservation can turn a lower-cost maintenance project into a higher-cost rehabilitation or reconstruction project.