Amy Lisenbe/Nevada Appeal Matt Taylor of the Lyon County Road Department uses a blade to cut out the washboard on Fort Churchill Road Monday afternoon in Dayton as he begins the process of resurfacing the road.
Lyon County taxpayers may be asked to pay a little more - in the form of taxes to a Road General Improvement District.
Lyon County commissioners last week voted unanimously to direct staff to draft a resolution that would create a GID to pay for roads in all areas of the county except for Fernley and Yerington.
Road Manager Gary Fried said the GID is necessary because the cost of road building has risen much faster than revenues from the gasoline tax.
"The cost of road construction is continuing to rise," he said. "It has gone up 33 percent in the last year, and our dwindling gas tax dollar has not increased since 1989. We're getting less done for more dollars."
Fried said there are many county roads in need of repair, particularly Dayton Valley Road in Dayton, Affonso Road, Cash Drive and Industrial Parkway in Mound House and the Ramsey Weeks Cutoff in Silver Springs.
The commissioners did not set a tax rate.
Road repair is paid for now out of the gasoline taxes and the county's general fund.
Counties can form GIDs, according to NRS 318, but the commission must first approve a resolution to that effect.
The commissioners then must unanimously approve the resolution, after which they must see if the two cities, Fernley and Yerington, want to annex the proposed GID areas that are within seven miles of their boundaries.
To continue the GID process, the cities' officials would have to not only decline to do so, but take action supporting the formation of the GID.
A commissioner then proposes the ordinance, and notices of public hearings are mailed to all residents in the proposed GID boundary.
Two public hearings will take place, and commissioners will vote after the second.
Lyon County comptroller Josh Foli said the tax rate would be 20 cents per $100 of assessed valuation or less, Foli said, with the full 20-cent rate expected to raise $1.75 million. He said there is 22 cents available under the state tax cap.
That amount will not bring all the roads up to the ideal maintenance standard, he said, since road officials estimated that $53 million worth of work is needed.
• Contact reporter Karen Woodmansee at kwoodmansee@nevadaappeal.com or 881-7351.
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