Bucks County Commissioner: County Deserves More Funds for Roads

Each year, Harrisburg distributes money from its Liquid Fuels Fund to every county in the state. The amount of money given is based on an earlier assessment of each county. The funds are spread unevenly; counties assessed with a higher average gas consumption rate receive more from the fund.

What is the problem with this process? According to The Commonwealth Legislative Budget and Finance Committee (CLBFC), the last time Bucks County was assessed was in 1929.

That is the issue that Bucks County Commissioner Diane Marseglia said she sees as a huge problem; one she said Harrisburg can and needs to work out.

"This is something we need to fight for," said Marseglia in an interview with Patch. "(Bucks County) needs this to be put on our agenda."

The money from the Liquid Fuels Fund are collected from taxes levied on gas pumps all around the state and distributed to each township in the county. Once in a county or township's hands, the funds can go to everything from basic roadwork, snow removal to bridge repair.

According to the CLBFC, the Liquid Fuels Fund, was started in the late 1920s and allocated based on the average gas consumption per county every year. Counties with more roadways and a higher population usually received had a higher gas consumption, and therefore more funds. But by 1931, the gas consumption figures had stopped being collected. This means that all counties in Pennslyvania, from Bucks to Pittsburgh, are all still receiving funds based on 1931 figures of gas consumption.

But Bucks County, in part to the suburban sprawl efforts of William Levitt, had a significant population boom by the 1950s. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, Bucks County has quickly become the fourth most populous county in the state and 95th most populous county in the entire country.

Now, despite having the fourth most populated county in the state, the CLBFC says Bucks County receives on annual almost 72 percent less funds from the Liquid Fuel Fund than the average county per capita.

"The amount (Bucks County) receives is significantly less than we need," Marseglia said.

Because the last assessment happened before 1931, Marseglia said some counties that received less growth than Bucks County actually ended up with more funds in the present.

Marseglia said to take Venango County for example. Venango is a small county, just 50 miles south of Erie, Pa. It has a population of 54,423 or approximately nine percent of the population of Bucks County. Despite this, Venango County receives the highest average dollars per capita in the state, at about $5 per person. Every year, it receives $272,115 from the state, almost 61 percent of what Bucks County receives.

Marseglia said she has been pushing to have a re-assessment of Bucks County done to receive more funding. At a Bristol Township Business Coalition meeting at Georgine's Restaurant last June, Marseglia made mention of her intent to push legislators on the issue.

"Ultimately, it has to come from Harrisburg. All we (Bucks County commissioners) can do right now is lobby," Marseglia said.