‘Pennies for Progress’ road projects continue, ahead of another referendum

Have you seen any problem on a York County roadway recently? It may end up on the project list for the next “Pennies for Progress” referendum.

The first steps are being put in place for drawing up and approving road construction projects for the next round of the capital sales tax that voters will be asked to approve in a referendum planned for 2017.

The current Pennies tax, the third county taxpayers have been asked to vote on, was approved in 2011 and runs through April 2018. County officials say it’s on course to raise its projected goal of $161 million, and if the next referendum passes, that funding will begin as soon as the current round ends.

But some projects on the list may roll over to Pennies 4 – just as several did from the previous round approved in 2003, amid concerns about costs exceeding what was initially approved. A York County Council committee that oversees the latest Pennies process has discussed bringing in an analyst to “enhance efficiency.”

The county approved a measure Sept. 8 to create a new commission that will draw up the next list of projects, whether or not that includes three outstanding projects from the current Pennies referendum. The commission, yet to be named, will include three members appointed by the York County Council, two from the city of Rock Hill and one member representing the eight other municipalities in the county.

The final three projects on the Pennies 3 list are Riverview Road between Celanese and Eden Terrace; Mount Gallant Road between Celanese and Twin Lakes; and S.C. 72/Saluda Road between Heckle Boulevard and Rambo Road.

County Engineer Lisa Hagood said even if construction of those projects moves to the Pennies 4 list, she would recommend within the next month the County Council approve beginning design work on all three “just to get them into the system.” On Oct. 5, the County Council approved a $1.29 million contract with Campco Engineering to begin work on the Riverview Road project.

Design and permitting often can take up the bulk of a project’s lifespan, sometimes taking years before the first shovel is put in the ground.

Of the 62 projects contained in the 2011 Pennies list – including dozens of intersection and gravel road improvements in addition to 12 larger road projects – five have been completed, seven are under construction, and at least 47 are in design, permitting or acquisition phase, plus the three final projects now on hold.

Partly that’s by design. County engineers are bound to complete the projects in the order they were put on the list. But to speed things up, Hagood said she tries to get as many as possible moving at once through the design phase, so they’re ready to go as soon as the dollars are available to start work.

Delays are common to these kinds of projects, and officials say all projects will be completed using money raised from the current Pennies sales tax, whenever they get started.

Twelve projects approved by voters in the 2003 referendum are still in the design and permitting phase. Another 31 of 69 projects from Pennies 2 had to be carried over to Pennies 3 due to a lack of funding.

Pennies 2 actually exceeded funding projections, raising $174.8 million, more than the $173 million originally approved by voters, according to figures from the county treasurer’s office. But cost overruns meant the program ran out of money for those roads before they could be completed.

As recently as Sept. 21, the County Council approved a bid to complete the Gold Hill Road-Tega Cay connector, a Pennies 2 project originally budgeted for $1.4 million, for a final total of $8.1 million. With cost rises like that, projects budgeted at a total of $1.65 million had to be rolled over.

That’s a concern for Councilwoman Christi Cox, who chairs the Pennies committee. “I want to make sure they stay within the scope the voters approved,” she said.

Some projects didn’t survive the transition. Plans to widen Ebenezer Road and Eden Terrace from two lanes to three – approved by voters in 2003, at an estimated total of $19.5 million – won’t be completed within the life of Pennies 2, and the commission that drew up the Pennies 3 list declined to carry them over.

The next round of Pennies may see other changes as well. Maintenance projects could be added alongside construction – Charleston County’s version of Pennies includes a maintenance component – but funding would have to be targeted to specific projects for a specified period of time, since the projects couldn’t receive ongoing funding.

Hagood also plans to restructure the program in-house. When she eventually hires a new, full-time Pennies program manager, she hopes to make that person a general overseer and “cheerleader” for the program, while more specific tasks involving individual projects are delegated to project managers.

This story was originally published October 6, 2015 at 7:17 PM with the headline "‘Pennies for Progress’ road projects continue, ahead of another referendum."