The Carbon County Recreation/Transportation Special Service District (SSD) has authorized $75,000 to pay for repairs to a loader for the Carbon County Road Department.
Road Department Supervisor Daniel Campbell made the request at a board meeting last week. He explained the first estimate he received for a new transmission was $190,000 and that was more than the loader was worth. Century Equipment then told him the work could be done for $69,000 for parts and $6,000 for labor.
The SSD is currently not taking applications for project funding, but does have money for maintenance.
SSD Administrator Linda Ballard explained the district has about $4.1 million in its capital improvement budget.
That isn’t going to fund any major project. She said she anticipated funds for 2018 to be about $4 million. That is down from more than $10 million just a few years ago.
Once the SSD determines the extent of funding to be received, the application process for major projects will be reopened.
The SSD gets money from mineral extraction industries. Mineral lease money is paid by extraction companies and distributed to the various states where the leases are located.
A formula gives some money to counties, through special service districts. Money cannot go directly to county coffers. The SSD is an independent board, made up of individuals who live in the area served by the SSD. In the case of the Carbon County Recreation/Transportation SSD, that means unincorporated Carbon County. The board is comprised of seven members, appointed by the County Commission.
Some mineral lease money goes to the CIB, which distributes money back to counties and cities through a grant process. The CIB can also give low interest loans, paid back by the requesting entity. The entire purpose is for mineral lease money to reimburse areas impacted by mineral extraction. In the case of Carbon and Emery counties, that is mostly from natural gas and coal leases.
Many of the county buildings built in recent years have been paid for by grants from the CIB, funding from the SSD, and from taxes, paid from county coffers to repay loans from the CIB.
The SSD transfers funds to the county every year to help with the county’s budget. For 2018 that amount is $1.4 million.
Certain county functions, such as the Road Department, are appropriate for the SSD to help fund. Besides buildings, the SSD has funded a number of recreation projects over the years, including the rest stop, pavilion, and restroom in Nine Mile Canyon, bleachers at the Stock Car Track, vehicles for Carbon County Recreation, and restrooms in Spring Canyon and at Consumers, the river restoration project in Helper, Carbon County’s new soccer fields, improvements (bridges, restroom facility and fencing) on property the SSD owns south of Scofield, plus several purchases for the county, such as vehicles and equipment.
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