Road projects could be put on hold in Lake County due to coronavirus pandemic, officials say

LAKE COUNTY, Fla. — Many roads across Central Florida are seeing far less traffic because of the pandemic.

With fewer people driving, less gas is being purchased, which means that cities and counties aren’t collecting as much in gas taxes that they depend on.

Lake County officials said that some of their road projects could be put on hold or may not happen due to the decrease in demand.

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“We already noticed over the last two months dramatic declines in the usage and purchasing of gas and fuel,” said Sean Parks, the Lake County commissioner.

“We are currently estimating a 20 percent decrease in gas tax revenue for the current year. To offset the expected loss of revenue, some services will be delayed, such as tree trimming, road shoulder maintenance, purchase of flat bed trucks, striping of county roads. Vacant positions will be evaluated for necessity of operations," said Fred Schneider, public works director.

The county gets 7.4 cents per gallon of gas sold, which generates $13 million a year and around $1.08 million per month.

Officials estimate they could be losing out on $2.5 million because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Parks said the huge budget hit is going to make things tough.

“It’s going to be a struggle over the next possible, this next year to try to keep those resurfacing projects on track because we may not have the money to do them,” Parks said.

Cox Media Group