Cash-strapped townships are looking to legislators for more money as they see state coffers swell and their own bank accounts dwindle, sometimes to nothing.
"We have no money," said Steve Peck of Glenburn, chairman of Margaret Township. As for road maintenance this summer, he said, "We weren't able to do hardly any because we had no money left after we took care of our winter bills. ... We are going to have to borrow money to get us through the winter until next year when we get next year's tax collections."
Some township officials say they have cut back on road work this year. Even those that haven't cut back are watching their spending more closely.
"You can't afford to do as much as you did," said Glen Hauf of Makoti, chairman of Orlien Township. "People are always complaining, but you do what you can do. It's getting tighter all the time. We definitely need the state to step in and help."
Ken Yantes of Brocket, executive secretary of the North Dakota Township Officers Association, said legislators are recognizing the need for more money for township roads. However, a legislative interim committee has postponed any decisions on funding proposals until getting results of a statewide study by the Upper Great Plains Transportation Institute.
"They want to know what the problems are before they put the dollars out there," Yantes said.
Snow and flood disasters in the past two years have been hard on township budgets, but so have changing times.
People are moving into rural housing developments and expecting city-level services that townships can't deliver. Many rural people work in town and need good roads. Also, roads built 50 years ago weren't made for today's farm equipment and now the oil traffic.
Leslie Enockson of Makoti, chairman of Hiddenwood Township, said the township has spent $8,000 in the past two years in a futile attempt to maintain a stretch of road less than two miles long that is used by an oil-field company.
"Our treasury is about broke. We haven't stopped maintaining anything yet, but our treasury is hurting," Enockson said.
Jim Johnson, chairman of Sawyer Township, said it's a juggling act to determine where money gets spent.
"If there's a lot of snow removal, we can hardly do any graveling," he said.
Clarence Aberle of Douglas, chairman of Hilton Township, said some roads with little travel have been allowed to deteriorate so that money can be spent on other roads. Older roads no longer capable of handling today's heavier traffic are patched rather than rebuilt.
"How do you build a road with a budget of $6,000 a year?" Aberle asked.
A road between Sundre and Afton townships, south of Minot, has deteriorated to become impassable at times even by 4-wheel-drive pickups. The road, used by a couple of farmers for access to crop and hay land, attracts hot-wheelers who enjoy the mud when it rains. One farmer has been paying for a grader to repair the damage. Still, that road and another connecting Sundre Township road that is essentially a prairie trail are often barely accessible with four-wheel drive vehicles.
Sundre put a "road closed" sign on its side, but Afton didn't even have money for a sign.
"We are just sliding by," said Afton chairman Blaine Schumacher of Minot.
Afton Township has 45 damage sites on this year's FEMA list.
Burt Township's roads could use another $100,000 worth of gravel, chairman Dirk Mikkelson of Minot said.
"We are trying to Band-Aid them," he said, noting that snow removal efforts end up falling behind as well.
"The last couple of years, some people just rode snowmobiles it got so bad out here," he said.
State law limits townships to a levy of 18 mills unless residents vote to increase the tax. Not all Ward County townships are at the maximum levy. Townships with income from landfills or wind mills or that have built reserves in the past are better off.
Larry Hauser of Berthold, chairman of St. Mary's Township, said his township raised its mill levy to the maximum after going broke about five years ago. The township still needs the money, having incurred $20,000 in flood damage last year and $17,000 this year.
Thirteen of the county's 57 townships have raised their levies above the maximum.
Ryder Township, even with 33.44 mills, would not have been able to manage repairs on its flood-damaged roads the past two years without federal and state help, chairman Jon Hanson said.
Rolling Green Township received permission from voters in March to add 5 mills. That will mean another $2,000 next year, chairman Raymond Kopp of Des Lacs said.
Meanwhile, the cost of putting gravel on one mile of road is nearly $1,800. The township has 18 miles of road.
"Ideally, we should gravel the roads more than we do but we just haven't been able to," Kopp said.
In the same financial straits a number of years ago, Rolling Green bought gravel from the county and provided it to landowners to do the work themselves.
"It was the only way we could get enough gravel on the roads for the money we had," Kopp said.
A few other townships also rely on landowners' help to balance the budget.
Tom Neshem of Ryder, chairman of Vang Township, said his township saves money because residents pitch in with their equipment. But it also has a good road base, extra mills voted in by residents and no flood disasters. Consequently, the township has money in the bank.
Todd Koop of Minot, chairman of Harrison Township, said his township has been trying for five years to set aside money to rebuild a gravel road. Whenever it gets the money, something more pressing comes along. This year, it was an essential road that washed out before the June storm that would have made the repairs eligible for federal aid.
