HomeMy WebLinkAboutMDT State Fuel Tax AllocationsDecember 4, 2002
City Clerk
City of Laurel
P.O. Box 10
Laurel, MT 59044
Subject:
Montana Department of Transportation
State Foel Tax Allocations to Cities
2701 Prospect Avenue
PO Box 201001
Helena MT 59620-1001
Judy Mart~, Governor
CITY OF LAUREL
I am writing to provide you with an update on issues relevant to the allocation of state fuel taxes to Laurel.
The Montana Department of Transportation (MDT) is required to determine the amount of state fuel tax to be
distributed to each of Montana's cities, counties, and consolidated city-county governments. The calculations are.
based on the parameters set forth in 15-70-101 MCA. About this time each year MDT sends a set of road maps and
a certification form to each appropr ate local government for review and certification of its road system mileage. An
appropriate designated official then signs and returns a mileage certification form. Based on this certification form,
state fuel tax a!locations are then calculated for the ensuing fiscal year beginning July 1. We are departing from this
traditional process this year for the reasons explained below.
As you probably know, MDT is currently engaged in a cooperative effort with MACo and the Federal Highway
Administration to gather GPS coordinates on all roads in Montana open to public travel. The statewide GPS project
will have many benefits for us all, including the enhancement of emergency services, more accurate mapping and
roadway data, and a consistent statewide standard for collecting GPS data on roads open to public travel. This data
will be made available to any and all of you who request it. Field data collection began in June of 2002 and we
.anticipate it will continue through the spring of 2003. This is a major project and involves eleven county field
inventory crews, the MDT GIS staff, the entire MDT Road Inventory and Mapping staff, and various other individuals
.critical to the administration of this very large and important project. MDT has essentially suspended its standard road
~nventory program in order to devote its resources toward successful and timely completion of the project. Since we
are still in the process of conducting the GPS road inventory activities, we have not made any changes to the road
maps or road mileage data base since last year at this time. As such, we are not sending you the road maps as we
usually do, but rather we are sending you only the attached road mileage:certification form. The mileage shown on the
certification form is the same as we sent to you last year.
AlSer the GPS data is collected, compiled and mapped, it will be used for calculating state fuel tax allocations. While
we expect the data collection phase to be complete by the spring of 2003, we do not expect the quality control and data
compilation phases to be complete in time to use it for the FY 2004 (beginning July 1, 2003) fuel tax allocations.
Therefore; local governments should expect their FY 2004 allocations to be the same as lbr the current fiscal
year. The attached mileage certification form reflects the mileage we have on record at the present time. Please have
it signed by the appropriate official and return it to us no later than February 1, 2003.
If you have any questions about your fuel tax allocations or the statewide GPS project, please don't hesitate to call me
at 444-6112 or Karen Home-Smith at 444-9238.
Sincerely,
Ed Ereth. Acting Supervisor
Road Inventory and Mapping Section
c: Gordon Morris
Dick Clark
Bill Cloud
Zia Kazimi
Patricia Saindon
Alec Hanson
Montana Department of Transportation David A. Gait, Director
2701 Prospect Avenue
PO Box 201001
Helena MT 59620-1001
Judy Mar~, Govemo!
December 4, 2002
State of Montana
Department of Transportation
Data and Statistics Bureau
2701 Prospect Avenue
Helena, MT 59620
Mileage Certification Form
In accordance with the provisions of Section 15-70-101, M.C.A., it is hereby certified that the street and
alley mileage:located in the City of Laurel, exclusive of the National Highway System (including Interstate)
and Primary System, is as follows:
Current Mileage
Streets 31.375
Alleys 15.504
Secondary/Urban 5.i21
TOTAL 52.000
(Signature)
(Official Title)
(City)
Date:
Montana
NOTE: PLEASE RETURN THIS CERTIFICATION ON OR BEFORE FEBRUARY 1, 2003 FOR
FUEL TAX ALLOCATION