SENATE BILL NO. 333
INTRODUCED BY C. SWYSGOOD, S. BOOKOUT-REINICKE, M. COLE, B. CRIPPEN, B. DEPRATU, G. DEVLIN, A. ELLIS, L. GRINDE, M. HANSON, J. HARP, H. HARPER, J. HERTEL, R. JABS, B. KASTEN, W. MCNUTT, K. MESAROS, A. MOHL, K. OHS, R. PECK, J. QUILICI, B. REHBEIN, P. SLITER, B. STORY, F. THOMAS, M. WATERMAN, T. ZOOK
AN ACT GENERALLY REVISING LAWS CONCERNING PAVED SECONDARY ROADS; REVISING THE APPORTIONMENT TO DISTRICTS OF CAPITAL CONSTRUCTION FUNDS FOR SECONDARY ROADS; REVISING THE FUNDING DISTRIBUTION FORMULA; ESTABLISHING A PRIORITIZATION PROCESS FOR CAPITAL CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS; REQUIRING THE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION TO ASSUME MAINTENANCE RESPONSIBILITY FOR PAVED SECONDARY ROADS; AMENDING SECTIONS 60-2-203, 60-2-204, AND 60-3-206, MCA; AND PROVIDING AN IMMEDIATE EFFECTIVE DATE.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MONTANA:
Section 1. Section 60-2-203, MCA, is amended to read:
"60-2-203. Maintenance responsibility. (1) The department shall have the responsibility for maintenance of maintain
all public highways or portions thereof of public highways that it maintained on July 1, 1976.
(2) The department shall assume the maintenance responsibilities for paved secondary roads as roads are identified cooperatively by the department and the county or counties in which a paved secondary road or paved secondary road segment is located. The department may phase in maintaining the paved secondary roads but must have completely assumed the responsibilities by January 1, 2001."
Section 2. Section 60-2-204, MCA, is amended to read:
"60-2-204. Maintenance agreements with local governments. The Except as provided in 60-2-203, the department
may enter into an agreement with a local governing body to maintain portions of public highways within its boundaries
upon terms and conditions as may be agreed upon, provided that. However, in the case of highways in the state
maintenance system as referred to in 60-2-128 and 60-2-203:
(1) the department shall bear the entire cost of maintenance, operation, and construction work performed by the local governing body pursuant to these agreements; and
(2) the department is responsible for the entire cost of placement and maintenance of all traffic control devices involved in these agreements required by 61-8-203."
Section 3. Section 60-3-206, MCA, is amended to read:
"60-3-206. Apportionment of funds to secondary highway system. (1) Each fiscal year the department shall
apportion at least 65% of the federal-aid highway funds allocated for the secondary highway system among the counties
districts for capital construction needs. The remainder of the funds must be used by the department for secondary highway
system pavement preservation. The proportion that each county district receives is computed on the following basis:
(a) one-fourth 30% in the ratio of land area in each county district to the total land area in the state;
(b) one-fourth 35% in the ratio of the rural population in each county district to the total rural population in the state;
(c) one-fourth 30% in the ratio of the rural road mileage in each county district to the total rural road mileage in the
state;
(d) one-fourth 5% in the ratio of value of rural lands the rural bridge square footage in each county district to the total
value of rural lands rural bridge square footage in the state.
(2) To the extent necessary to permit orderly programming and construction of projects, obligations in a county district
may exceed the amount apportioned to that county district if a majority of the boards of county commissioners of the
counties in another district approve the donation of the extra amount. The amount of excess obligations must be deducted
from future apportionments to that county recipient district and returned to the donor district.
(3) For the purposes of this section, terms are defined as follows:
(a) "Capital construction" means a highway or bridge project undertaken to improve structural strength, increase capacity, or eliminate hazardous design features. A capital construction project may include paved or gravel road reconstruction and rehabilitation.
(b) "District" means the transportation commission districts identified in 2-15-2502.
(c) "Pavement preservation" means a project undertaken to extend the useful life of a paved road.
(d) "Rural bridge square footage" means the total square footage of all deck areas of structures 20 feet long or longer located on the roadways that are used to calculate rural road mileage as provided in subsection (3)(f).
(e) "Rural population" means the total county population of all of the counties in a district as reported in the latest
decennial federal census less the population in cities over 5,000 persons and their unincorporated fringe urban areas as
determined by the department, using the latest decennial federal census.
(b)(f) (i) "Rural road mileage" means all road mileage outside of incorporated cities and towns on roads functionally
classified and approved by the transportation commission as major collectors or minor arterials, exclusive of road mileage
on the primary highway system and the national highway system, and those roads that are inside incorporated cities and
towns and are functionally classified and approved by the commission as a major collector or a minor arterial, exclusive of
road mileage on the primary system and the national highway system.
(ii) Road mileage within national parks or road mileage that lies within incorporated cities over 5,000 persons and their unincorporated fringe urban areas, whose population is determined by the department, using the latest decennial federal census, is not considered rural road mileage.
(iii) Rural road mileage reported by the road inventory of the department must be used in determining rural road mileage.
(c) "Value of rural lands" includes the value of state-owned lands from which the state derives grazing, timber, and
agricultural income.
(i) The basis for the value of rural lands must be computed from the latest available information from the department of
revenue.
(ii) The basis for the value of state-owned lands must be computed from the latest figures on the total grazing, timber,
and agricultural lands in each county based on the most recent information available from the department of natural
resources and conservation.
(4) For the purpose of determining secondary highway capital construction priorities within a district, each board of county commissioners in a district has one vote and the department has two votes. An existing paved secondary highway may not be converted to a graveled surface without the concurrence of the board of county commissioners in the county where the road is located."
Section 4. Effective date. [This act] is effective on passage and approval.
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Latest Version of SB 333 (SB0333.ENR)
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