Judges: WRITTEN BY: Don Stenberg, Attorney General Gary R. Welch, Assistant Attorney General
Filed Date: 4/9/1997
Status: Precedential
Modified Date: 7/5/2016
REQUESTED BY: Allan Abbott, Director-State Engineer Nebraska Department of Roads
You have requested our opinion as to whether the current method of applying the transfer of funds to the State Aid and Bridge Fund, which can be found at Neb. Rev. Stat. §
The Highway Trust Fund was created by Neb. Rev. Stat. §
Except as provided in subsection (7) of this section, the balance of the Highway Trust Fund shall be allocated fifty-three and one-third percent, less the amount provided for in section
39-847.01 , to the Department of Roads, twenty-three and one-third percent, less the amount provided for in section39-847.01 , to the various counties for road purposes, and twenty-three and one-third percent to the various municipalities for street purposes. . . .
Paragraph (6) of Neb. Rev. Stat. §
The State Treasurer shall transfer monthly thirty-two thousand dollars from the Department of Roads' share of the Highway Trust Fund and thirty-two thousand dollars from the counties' share of the Highway Trust Fund which is allocated to bridges to the State Aid Bridge Fund.
The key phrase of the above statute is "from the counties' share of the Highway Trust Fund which is allocated to bridges."
The "less the amount provided in §
Examining the strict provisions of the State Aid Bridge Fund, Neb. Rev. Stat. §
Our examination takes us to Neb. Rev. Stat. §
Lineal feet of bridges twenty feet or more in length and all overpasses in each county, as determined by the most recent inventory available within the Department of Roads, ten percent, . . .
Neb. Rev. Stat. §
The Department of Roads shall compute the amount allocated to each county under each of the factors listed in section
39-2507 and shall then compute the total allocation to each such county and transmit such information to the local governing board and the State Treasurer, who shall disburse funds accordingly.
Neb. Rev. Stat. §
We believe this application to be correct since a reading of the legislative hearing transcripts on the creation of the State Aid Bridge Fund and the Highway Allocation Fund refers to the ten percent bridge language of Neb. Rev. Stat. §
The State Aid Bridge Fund would be administered by the Department of Roads. Source of funds would be $32,000 monthly from the Department of Roads allocation and $32,000 monthly from the county 10% allocations for bridges.
Also, on page 8 of the Committee Statement on LB1312, "Subsection (3) is the lineal feet of bridges over twenty feet which was 10%." And, on page 13, "Then for the first time we assign a factor for bridges, a 10% factor for the lineal feet of bridges and overpasses the county has to maintain."
The above would appear to be the legislative intent as to Neb. Rev. Stat. §§
Sincerely,
DON STENBERG Attorney General
Gary R. Welch Assistant Attorney General
Approved By:
Don Stenberg Attorney General