For the Tomahawk Leader
WISCONSIN – Governor Tony Evers and the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) announced on Tuesday, Jan. 31 that municipalities across the state received more than $134 million in the first quarterly payments for 2023 for General Transportation, Connecting Highway and Expressway Policing Aids.
According to a release from Evers’ office, for calendar year 2023, local governments will receive more than $526 million in General Transportation Aids financial assistance to support transportation-related projects, a 2% increase over calendar year 2022 allocations provided by the 2021-23 biennial budget signed by Evers.
Total funding for all local programs makes up almost one-third of the state transportation budget.
Quarterly payments for cities, villages, and towns are sent the first Monday in January, April, July and October. County payments are made in three installments, with 25% of the total annual payment on the first Monday in January; 50% on the first Monday in July; and 25% on the first Monday in October.
The first quarter payments, made in January, totaled $134,806,043.56 and included:
- General Transportation Aids (GTA) – $131,534,194.35 to local units of government
- Connecting Highway Aids (CHA) – $3,015,874.21 to 116 eligible municipalities
- Expressway Policing Aids – $255,975.00 to Milwaukee County
General Transportation Aids help cover the costs of constructing, maintaining and operating roads and streets under local jurisdiction.
Connecting Highway Aids reimburse municipalities for maintenance and traffic control of certain state highways within municipalities.
Expressway Policing Aids assist the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Department with the costs of patrolling expressways within the county.
“Since 2019, we’ve improved more than 5,800 miles of roads and highways across the state, but there is more work to be done to ensure municipalities have the support and resources they need to keep fixing the darn roads,” Evers stated. “We will continue to work together with our local partners to ensure Wisconsinites have safe, reliable transportation and infrastructure to maintain our economy’s momentum.”
“Efficient and resilient transportation infrastructure depends on the first and last mile,” said WisDOT Secretary Craig Thompson. “Cooperation with local governments across Wisconsin is central to making good investments in our roads, and I want to thank all the municipal leaders who work with us to improve transportation.”
A list of the fourth quarter aid payments is available at www.bit.ly/3HXF9sm.
Local aid data
Municipality GTA CHA
Lincoln County $312,419.79
Oneida County $290,607.74
Price County $181,708.35
Vilas County $279,918.07
City of Tomahawk $65,794.57 $7,290.10
City of Merrill $211,514.42 $26,372.76
City of Rhinelander $201,678.52
Town of Birch $19,083.62
Town of Bradley $53,893.97
Town of Cassian $61,836.24
Town of Corning $66,320.00
Town of Harding $23,122.80
Town of Harrison $39,848.05
Town of Hazelhurst $34,386.88
Town of Hill $21,557.59
Town of King $23,642.26
Town of Knox $23,613.91
Town of Little Rice $31,502.51
Town of Lynne $55,199.46
Town of Merrill $45,616.79
Town of Nokomis $36,287.01
Town of Ogema $40,032.59
Town of Pine River $44,304.47
Town of Rock Falls $25,617.58
Town of Russell $28,085.01
Town of Schley $36,751.79
Town of Scott $38,200.81
Town of Skanawan $16,246.79
Town of Somo 14,264.64
Town of Spirit $20,805.74
Town of Tomahawk $24,216.40
Town of Wilson $17,338.65
Data courtesy of WisDOT.