(From left) County Commissioner and Vice President and President Ron Truex were installed as acting officers during the first Kosciusko County Commissioner’s meeting of the year. (Photo by Michelle Reed)

WARSAW — Though many have grumbled over the wheel tax, according to Kosciusko County Commissioner Ron Truex, the funds raised from the wheel tax are paving a brighter future for the county’s highway department.

Faced with ever decreasing funding from the state for highway repairs, the county highway department has made numerous cutbacks over the year’s to ensure necessary repairs were made to roads throughout the county. Among these cutbacks were the county dump trucks, which are utilized throughout the year to clear and maintain roads, as well as for snow removal.

According to Scott Tilden, superintendent of the county highway department, the fleet, which is comprised of vehicles dating from the 1970s forward, have needed numerous repairs over the past years — repairs that have been incredibly costly for the county. Tilden noted due to lack of funding, replacement of these aging vehicles has been continuously postponed so funds could be utilized for necessary road repairs.

However, with repairs estimated around $30-40K on the engines and transmissions of these trucks, Tilden noted the time to replace these vehicles is overdue. This point was reaffirmed by Truex, who noted no matter the amount of money put into these trucks for repairs, the county would never see a return on these fees as these vehicles’s value have diminished over time.

Truex noted with the money raised from the wheel tax, the county is able to appropriate these funds to repair the roads without emptying the coffers of the highway department entirely. This will allow for the needed equipment to be purchased while still allowing for roads to be maintained.

The commissioners unanimously approved the seeking of bids for three single-axle trucks and two tandem axle trucks. Tilden noted these vehicles will be equipped with a dump body, hydraulics and snow plows and are estimated to cost around $165-185K. Bids will be accepted for the new trucks up to 9:15 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 23.

In other business, the commissioner’s took a brief moment to appoint the acting president and vice president to the board. Ron Truex will serve as president of the Kosciusko County Commisioner with Bob Conley acting as vice president.