Sponsors: Robert Beach

The purpose of this bill is give each county commission authority to submit road and bridge construction projects to the Commissioner of Highways. The bill authorizes county commissions to impose a county transportation sales and service tax and a county use tax, at a rate not to exceed one percent, to finance the construction, in whole or in part, thereby accelerating the time for completion of those projects. The bill states that the taxes would be collected by the Tax Commissioner, at same time and in the same manner as the state consumers sales and service tax and use taxes are collected. The bill permits the net county transportation sales and use taxes would be deposited in the County Road Improvement Account, a new account that would be created in the State Road Fund, to the credit of the county’s subaccount in that account. The bill states that the funds in the subaccounts could be used to fund road and bridge construction projects on a cash basis and the Division of Highways would be authorized to issue special revenue bonds to finance construction secured by the county’s subaccount. The bill provides criminal penalties.