Crittenden is getting smaller slice of state road aid

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MARION, Ky. – Crittenden County is getting a smaller slice of state road money it can use on its own county roads, continuing a three-year decline that local officials say is making it increasingly difficult to keep up with paving needs. Other nearby counties are feeling the same pinch.

Crittenden County is slated to receive $138,087 in Rural Secondary Flex Funds for the 2026-27 fiscal year. That's down from about $180,000 last year and $226,000 two years ago – a decline of nearly $88,000, or 39%, in two years.

“So the trend is less and less and less and cut and cut and cut,” Judge-Executive Perry Newcom said. “I see a point where we get no flex fund money.”

Newcom's comments came during last month's fiscal court meeting when Kentucky Transportation Cabinet officials submitted the county's annual Rural Secondary Road Program recommendations.

The way the program works can be confusing because the money serves both state and county roads.

Kentucky sets aside a portion of state motor-fuels tax revenue for its Rural Secondary Road Program. That

money is divided among counties using a formula based on rural population, road mileage, land area and an equal share for each of Kentucky's 120 counties. However, the Rural Secondary allocation remains under the control of the Transportation Cabinet and is primarily used to maintain and improve state-maintained rural secondary highways, according to the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet’s website.

That's where Flex Funds come in.

Each year, KYTC determines how much of a county's Rural Secondary allocation can be “flexed” away

from the state highway system and made available to the county for  county-maintained roads.

Livingston County Judge-Executive Michael Williams recently reported that his county has been approved for about $500,000 less than anticipated over the past two years. 

How much a county gets depends largely on the condition of the state's Rural Secondary roads within that county. KYTC grades those roads using a Level of Service assessment that considers such things as pavement condition, potholes, rutting, shoulders, drainage, striping, signs and guardrails. The rating is based on three years of data, according to information published by the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet.

The better the state's roads are, the more money can be turned over to the county. KYTC's current formula allows 25% of the initial Rural Secondary allocation to be flexed to counties with an A rating, 20% for a B, 15% for a C and 10% for a D.

In simple terms, if state-maintained backroads are in good shape, the state can afford to give the county more money to work on county roads. If state roads need more attention, the state keeps a larger share for its own system.

KYTC puts it similarly in its program guidance: the better the condition of state roads in a county, the more Flex funding the county receives for resurfacing county roads. If Rural Secondary roads are in poor condition, the state determines that it needs to retain more of the allocation for state routes, the KYTC says in its publications.

That creates a squeeze for rural counties such as Crittenden, where local officials are responsible for an extensive network of more than 300 miles of county roads while the state also has miles of aging secondary highways to maintain.

Crittenden County has 351.06 miles of county-owned and maintained roads, excluding state highways. That figure comes from the Kentucky Association of Counties’ (KACO) most recent county road-mileage data from 2024. County roads account for about 62.1% of Crittenden County’s 565.12 total public road miles, according to KACO.

“We continue urging our legislators for help. We are telling them that funding is not sufficient to meet our needs, and they continue to kick the can down the road and not address the rural roads,” Newcom said. “It won't be long until they are all gravel again.”

This year's numbers illustrate the competing demands.

Crittenden County's tentative Rural Secondary allocation is $920,579. The program begins the year with an $80,324 negative balance carried over from last year. Another $349,800 is allocated for maintenance and traffic expenses on the state system and $3,230 for county administrative expenses. That leaves $487,225 for improvements.

From that amount, $138,087 is designated as the county's Flex Fund allocation. The remaining $349,138 is available toward improvements on the state Rural Secondary system.

KYTC is recommending a $555,450 project on KY 902 from the Caldwell County line to Larping Spring Road in southern Crittenden County. That project exceeds the remaining available funding by $206,312.

The figures demonstrate the pressure within the program: Even as Crittenden's Flex allocation for county roads has fallen to $138,087, the money retained for state Rural Secondary improvements isn't enough to cover the state's proposed KY 902 work.

Flex Funds cannot simply be spent anywhere county government chooses. They are specifically available for resurfacing county roads. The fiscal court recommends roads for the program, KYTC evaluates them and enters into an agreement with the county. After the approved work is completed and documented, the county is reimbursed.

Newcom said this year's $138,087 will pave only about one mile of county roadway. Officials will evaluate the county's needs before deciding where that mile of pavement will do the most good. Then the state will have to approve it.

For motorists who travel Crittenden County's backroads every day, that is where a complicated state funding formula becomes much simpler: There are more miles needing attention than there is money to pave them, according to county officials.