MAHONING COUNTY, Ohio - As county engineers make plans for summer road resurfacing, they say funding is making it harder and harder to pave all the roads they would like.

At a recent briefing of township leaders, Mahoning county engineer Pat Ginnetti said his office gets calls everyday from people who don't understand how road improvements are funded."The final comment is usually, I pay my taxes, or I pay a lot of property taxes.  We get none of those taxes.  We are funded strictly from license plate fees and gas taxes," Ginnetti explained. 

Currently the state gas tax is 28 cents and the federal tax is 18 cents or 46 cents per gallon.  The county engineer is responsible for 485 miles of roadway in Mahoning county.

To fix every mile would cost  $65-to-$70 million. But gas tax revenues continue to decline due to less consumption, higher fuel efficiency and alternative fuel vehicles.  

Another big problem is that budgets aren't keeping pace with inflation and  the higher costs of materials and labor. For example, in recent years the cost of concrete has increased 25% and asphalt is up 183%.

"It's harder and harder to do what we need to do with the amount of money we're getting, so we're forced to do less," Ginnetti said.  It' should also be noted that the budget also has to cover equipment and other operational costs.   "Even if we were to take the entire budget and put that towards roads,  we're still not there," according to Ginnetti.

This year, Mahoning county is planning resurfacing projects on twelve roads for a total of 15-to 20-miles.