Mower County residents will have their chance to weigh in on a county proposal to enact a half-cent sales tax to fund specific roads and bridge improvements, a plan county officials aren’t keen on but see as a necessary discussion.

The Mower County board voted earlier this week to hold a public hearing at 6 p.m. Aug. 1 in the basement board room of the Mower County Government Center, 201 First St. NE, to gauge feedback on the best way to fund its extensive infrastructure needs.

The county board unanimously voted Tuesday to approve a plan of more than 40 roads and bridges that would be replaced or repaired with the help of a half-cent sales tax if it eventually voted to approve the plan.

“For that hearing, you need a plan to show the public,” County Coordinator Craig Oscarson said.

However, county commissioners still aren’t sold that the half-cent sales tax is the best option, but they admit it may be the only option the board can control.

“The thing that bothers me about this sales tax is it’s a Band-Aid to me,” Commissioner Jerry Reinartz said. “Because we’re still coming up short of what we need.”

Reinartz and other commissioners continue to be outspoken about their displeasure with the state’s recent inaction on road and bridge funding, continuing to argue that they’re only discussing the sales tax because the Legislature remains gridlocked on funding plans.

“It just makes me feel like, Why should we do their job by posting a sales tax on the citizens of Mower County?” Reinartz said.

“I’d rather see that than a tax levy,” Commissioner Mike Ankeny replied.

While Reinartz agreed with Ankeny, he said he’d like help from the state first.

“They haven’t done a thing,” Reinartz said. “It’s like they’re forcing us to do this, and I don’t like to be forced into doing something while they’re just sitting back doing nothing.”

Along with the state’s inaction, commissioners have argued the Legislature has taken steps to pass the buck of road funding down to the counties.

In 2013, the state approved a wheelage tax and a half-cent sales tax as options for counties to fund local road and bridge projects. In June of 2013, the Mower board approved a $10 wheelage tax, which is paid when drivers renew licenses. That was estimated to bring in $357,000 a year.

While commissioners largely agree the state should be responsible for increasing its road and bridge funding, Commissioner Tim Gabrielson noted the county can’t depend on the state for funding.

That’s where the half-cent sales tax comes in.

On Tuesday, Public Works Director Mike Hanson presented a final version of the more than 40 projects that would be completed over the next 10 years with the help of the sales tax dollars, should the board eventually vote to approve the tax.

The board has been discussing how to address a roughly $100 million need for road and bridge projects over the next decade and an estimated funding shortfall of $6.5 million per year.

If the board votes to enact the half-cent sales tax, it would slim the county’s projected annual funding shortfall to $5 million a year, but it wouldn’t completely eliminate funding shortfalls.

The projects outlined in Hanson’s preliminary report wouldn’t exclusively use money from the sales tax. Hanson estimated the county would need about $5.15 million a year to complete the proposed projects, with $3.3 million coming from the gas tax, $350,000 coming from the wheelage tax and $1.5 million coming from the half-cent sales tax.

County staff noted even approving the sales tax won’t completely fix the county’s road issues. It’ll just address about $1.5 million of the more than $6.5 million projected annual shortfall.

The next step for the board is the public hearing, as the board has already sought the opinion of township leaders and the Austin Area Chamber of Commerce.

The board is slated to vote to approve or reject the sales tax in August or early September. If approved, the sales tax would be implemented in January 2017.

No matter what it does, the county expects to have much work ahead on roads and bridges.

“No matter what we do, we’re never going to have enough money to keep up with what we want to do,” Reinartz said. “We just have to prioritize things and do the worst ones first.”