The County Engineer is responsible for all maintenance, repair, widening, resurfacing, reconstruction of pavements and bridges on the county highway system. This includes traffic control, safety, mowing and snow removal.
In some cases, the County Engineer's responsibility also involves road access and oversize vehicles.
The County Engineer must prepare an annual budget and five year program that identifies how the county will be spending its funding on the county roads. The County Engineer must submit these documents to the Board of Supervisors for approval.
The prime source of revenue are property tax from the Rural Levy and Road Use Tax. Some counties also receive revenue from the General Levy and Local Option Sales Tax.
The Road Use Tax, which is basically the portion of the fuel tax earmarked for highway purposes is levied at the State and Federal level. These monies are then distributed for use on State, County, City or Park highway systems by statutory formulas.
County Engineers are pressed to find other sources of funds. Some of these funds are Federal bridge replacement monies, Revitalize Iowa Sound Economy (RISE) grants, miscellaneous grants and permit fees.
These funds can only be spent on the County system unless the Board of Supervisors has entered into an agreement with a city or the Iowa Department of Transportation.
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