Legacy Fund Earnings Shared with Counties to Support Roads

Posted 1/11/24 (Thu)

Donnell Preskey | Government/Public Relations Specialist

Counties and townships received $28.5 million in December from the State of North Dakota through a new transportation funding program. The 2023 Legislature created a new Legacy Earnings Highway Distribution Fund as a mechanism to provide reliable funding to address road needs across the state. $18.2 million was distributed to counties and $10.3 million to townships (non-oil). The ongoing funding will be distributed in the first year of the biennium, so on each odd number year. The allocations are made using the highway distribution formula for counties, and distributions to townships are based on road miles. Funds received can be used for any construction, reconstruction, repair, and maintenance of public highways, which includes equipment, salaries, gravel, etc. The $28.5 million to counties and townships is part of a $100 million investment in infrastructure using Legacy Fund earnings.

North Dakota voters approved establishing the Legacy Fund in 2010. 30% of total revenue derived from oil and gas taxes is deposited into the Legacy Fund. Since 2017, the first year earnings from the Fund could be used, the state has transferred more than $1.3 billion from the Fund’s earnings to pay for infrastructure and other uses. $486 million was transferred into the Legacy Earnings Fund in the 2021-2023 biennium. The Legacy Fund balance is just shy of $9 billion with $54 million a month on average being deposited. This new funding stream will create more certainty for local governments to plan road projects.

In addition to the Legacy Earnings Highway Distribution Fund, the Legislature also created a new Flexible Transportation Fund which will allocate $221 million for state, county, and township road and bridge projects. Of the $221 million, $42.8 million will be dedicated to non-oil counties and townships. The North Dakota Department of Transportation will administer the program, which includes establishing the criteria to distribute the funds utilizing a grant process for counties and townships. The application deadline was December 31, 2023.