Lake County commissioners vote Tuesday on borrowing $10M to repair roads
LAKE COUNTY, Fla. - Lake County commissioners plan to vote on whether they will borrow $10 million to repair roads in the county.
The county wants to repave about 63 miles of road.
"My business is here in Clermont and I live in Eustis," Clermont business owner Michael Floyd said. "So, that's a kind of a far way, and even the back roads - 561 and 441 and 19, the roads are really bad."
The Lake County commissioners are set to vote on whether they should borrow the money to fix the roads, but many are wondering where the money will come from to pay the loan and if the loan is needed at all.
Commissioner Sean Parks said this is a step the county must take because of the recent rapid growth.
"As you're starting to notice, as you drive around town, not only are you noticing more traffic, but you're noticing more potholes," Parks said. "A lot of that road base, that's kinda wearing out. So, in a sense, we're just trying to catch up with that right now."
The county has been discussing this project for years. They've talked about raising the county's gas tax to foot the bill, but Parks said his fellow commissioners will likely vote to use money from a penny sales tax referendum passed four years ago so that taxes will not have to be raised.
He said this is a cheaper option for the county.
"If you let those roads go much longer, what happens is that it costs three and four times the cost to fix those after you let them degrade," Parks said.
If the vote does not pass, Parks believes the money will have to come from the county's general fund.
Some of the drivers we spoke with agree that there has been a lot of growth, but they tell us they would rather see the money go toward new roads, not old ones.
"We need additional roads," Lake County resident Afzal Yameen said. "Yes, we do. If you look in Lake County going to Orange County, there aren't many roads that take you in and out of the county."
The county commissioners will vote on whether they will borrow this money for the roads at their meeting on Tuesday.