Racine County and its many villages, towns and two cities have received the first of their quarterly payments from the state for various highway projects and enforcement.
Newly sworn-in Gov. Tony Evers announced Thursday that local governments received quarterly payments this week totaling $118,205,118 for General Transportation Aids, Connecting Highway Aids and Expressway Policing Aids. The funds come from the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT).
January payments to Wisconsin’s 1,924 local units of government include: $114,933,268 in General Transportation Aids; $3,015,874 to 117 municipalities entitled to receive Connecting Highway Aids; and $255,975 to Milwaukee County for Expressway Policing Aids.
General Transportation Aids help defray the costs of constructing, maintaining, and operating roads and streets under local jurisdiction. Connecting Highway Aids reimburse municipalities for maintenance and traffic control of local roads that connect segments of the state highway system.
For calendar year 2019, local governments will receive an estimated $473 million from the state transportation fund to build and maintain local roads and bridges.
Quarterly payments for cities, towns and villages are sent the first Monday in January, April, July and October. County payments are made in three installments, with 25 percent of the total annual payment on the first Monday in January; 50 percent on the first Monday in July; and 25 percent on the first Monday in October.
Racine County is slotted to receive $2,716,603; the cities of Racine and Burlington set to receive $3,623,481 and $555,279 respectively.
See the list for 2019 for all counties in Wisconsin
Communities also receive state transportation fund revenues for public transit, elderly and disabled transportation, and airport and harbor development. Local communities may also receive state and federal funds for specific highway and bridge construction projects.
Connecting highway aids, which reimburse municipalities for maintenance and traffic control of local roads that connect segments of the state highway system, will also account for a significant amount of inward-bound state dollars this year. The city of Racine will see $250.863 in funds for this kind of work. Mount Pleasant and Caledonia will receive $9,988 and $37,852 respectively.
According to state documents, Racine County will receive no state funds for expressway enforcement, despite being in the middle of a massive Foxconn-driven rebuild and expansion of Interstate 94 through the county. Milwaukee County is slated to receive $255,975 for “Expressway Policing Aid” funds in 2019.