7 cents: 45 percent of funds were divided evenly, 55 percent was allocated to county by population. Used to buy supplies pay employees, provide maintance to equipment and buy gasoline

4 cents: for refurbishing and maintaining existing roads.

5 cents: for constructing new roads and bridges.

Note: All gasoline taxes are charged by the gallon

Seven cents, five cents and four cents. Sixteen cents total.

For every gallon of gas purchased in Alabama counties, this amount is returned to county road systems and used to pave roads, build bridges and pay the employees that build them.

But it takes $45,000 just for one mile of pavement according to Tony Wearren, Chilton County’s engineer and Clanton resident for 26 years. That does not include labor or preparing the road for the asphalt. The total cost per mile is about $80,000.

Still feel like complaining about that dirt road? Probably so.

Unfortunately, paving roads is costly and a county service that requires taxpayers to fund. Which is the lesser of both evils? Paying more taxes or muddying up your car every time it rains?

In 1943, Alabama developed the Farm to Market Act that required the state to fund road construction with supplemental gasoline taxes. A tax of seven cents is added into the total cost of a gallon of gasoline for the state. The taxes collected were divided among Alabama’s 67 counties evenly.

In 1967, Jefferson County legislators proposed and passed a revision to the distribution formula. Only 45 percent of the funds were divided evenly, while the remaining 55 percent was divided by population to help support counties with larger populations.

The “Farm to Market” tax was increased twice in 1980 and 1992.

Four cents were added in 1980 to refurbish and maintain aging roads and bridges. Five cents in 1992 for constructing new roads and bridges.

Now with the technical junk out of the way, still wondering so what?

While gasoline has jumped to $4 a gallon, the 16-cent tax remains unchanged. Chilton County’s 1,200 miles of road is not getting paved on 16 cents alone.

“The tax we collect is not enough to support us,” Wearren said. “It’s easier to keep a dirt road rideable.”

The 16 cents is split into a seven-cent fund, a five-cent fund and a four-cent fund with state restrictions on what each fund’s cash can be spent on. The seven-cent revenue is used to buy supplies, pay employees, provide maintenance to equipment and buy gasoline. The least amounts, four and five cent funds, are used to pave and repair the county road systems.

Last year, about $315,000 was collected in taxes and given to the road department for making new roads. That is only five miles a year said Wearren.

In the four-cent fund, only $38,000 was generated to fix existing roads and bridges.

As people consume less fuel, less revenue is flowing to the county for road improvement, and with sky-high gasoline this year is going to be a bottom of the barrel year for Wearren and his team.

“My number one goal next year is to get raises,” Wearren said. “I have 50 guys that haven’t had a raise in three years, and raising taxes is not favorable to citizens right now.”

June gasoline tax collections were down more than 3.5 percent according to the Association of County Commissions of Alabama.

Some associations are calling for an increase in the gasoline tax so transportation costs will not go up on Alabama’s interstates.

Ford Boswell of the Alabama Trucking Association said that the fleets they represent are advocating a five-cent increase in the taxes. Privatization is a concern for truck drivers.

Private corporations can buy the right to manage road systems when the state places them on sale. This can result in costly tolls from the companies that own the roads that taxpayer dollars paid for and constructed.

“Imagine 65 being tolled from top to bottom,” Boswell said.

Not only is road maintenance expensive, but it is also a safety concern. In 2007, almost 370 people were killed on county-maintained roads the Association of County Commissions of Alabama said in a press release this month.

Without the revenue to improve road conditions, counties are forced to let their citizens drive dangerous roads.

“Most counties simply do not have the money to do even the basic maintenance activities,” Elmore County engineer Richie Beyer told the association.

The solution?

Chilton County does not currently have a sales tax, but additional funds from a small tax could be enough to get the county through the gas price slump.

A point to be considered for the citizens who regularly drive the county-maintained roads, but in the meantime buying gas locally can help generate much needed money for county services that depend on tax dollars.