The National Association of Counties brief, Investing in America’s Infrastructure: County Funding for Capital Facilities, summarizes the robust efforts of county governments to maintain America’s roads, bridges and other infrastructure, and the difficulties of increasing costs, funding cuts, and regulatory burdens.

According to the National Association of Counties, building infrastructure is no fairy tale. It’s serious work, with serious challenges.

As described in the Association’s report:

• Counties build and maintain 46 percent of public road miles and more than 38 percent of bridges throughout America
• Counties fund most of their activities with property taxes, which represent 72 percent of county general revenues.
• Overall, nearly three-quarters (73 percent) of states are requiring counties to do more with what they already have, decreasing state funding to counties or a combination of both.

Investing in America’s Infrastructure: County Funding for Capital Facilities describes the issues facing counties and innovative county solutions, including a profile of a P3 in Montgomery County, Maryland.

“By leveraging a valuable asset, Montgomery County was able to work with a private developer to construct a new building at a low cost to the county and solve a capacity problem at the existing building.” – Mr. Timothy Firestine, Chief Administrative Officer, Montgomery County, Md.

MACo advocates for infrastructure funding for county governments, and relief from costly regulations and delays. In the 2018 Session, MACo won additional funding for county governments from the highway user revenues and supported legislation to increase the State’s school construction funding goal and allow for alternative financing of school construction projects.

For more information, including nationwide data on infrastructure, see the National Association of Counties.