Commissioners compare public works with other counties

Using data provided by the Kansas Department of Transportation, Bourbon County Commissioners on Tuesday determined the road and bridge department is working at the level it should based on population, valuation and county budget.

Second District Jeff Fischer led a presentation on the county’s ranking based on the 2016 Summary of County Engineer’s Annual Reports.

Public Works Director Jim Harris said he “briefly” looked at the presentation prior to Tuesday’s meeting and found it was not comparing “apples to apples.” He said Bourbon County includes noxious weed and landfill staff in the road and bridge budget. Some of the other counties used in the comparison do not.

Another difference, according to Harris, is the total miles of roads Bourbon County maintains. The report states Bourbon County maintains a total of 1,000 miles of roads. Harris said the actual number is closer to 1,040: 140 miles of hard surface roads and 36 miles of dirt roads, plus gravel roads.

After Fischer said the state used information provided by each county, Harris said he would make sure the correct information is in the future.

“But it’s a good report,” Harris said.

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