The Lewis and Clark County Public Works Department maintains approximately 550 miles of roads. County tax dollars pay for maintenance on high traffic roads or those that collect traffic from large areas. As with many large, primarily rural Montana counties, there is not enough funding to maintain all public roads, many of which only benefit a few properties. One option for road and other public works improvements and maintenance is to create a Rural Improvement District (RID). A RID is a legal taxing authority that can raise funds in specific areas for specific improvements and on-going maintenance.
The Creation of a Rural Improvement District is regulated by both Montana State Statue (Title 7, Chapter 12, Part 21) and guided by County Rural Improvement District Policy and Procedures, as a mechanism to help property owners self-fund various projects provided for in the statute.
The Board of County Commissioners may create special improvement districts outside the limits of incorporated cities and towns. The districts may be created for the purpose of building, constructing, or maintaining a wide variety of improvements such as sidewalks, roads, water, sewer, storm drain and other utility infrastructure systems, parks and recreational facilities. A complete list of the type of improvements RIDs may be created for is found in 7-12-4102, MCA.
- Citizen, Developer or County-initiated.
- Paid for by an annual property tax assessment.
- Very specific: funds cannot be used for anything other than what is indicated in the RID resolution, for the area it applies to.
- Allow residents of Lewis & Clark County the ability to finance, construct and maintain improvements for the following:
- Existing road beds and surfacing;
- Ditches:
- Ancillary road features such as turnouts for mailboxes and school busses, sidewalks, culverts, curb and gutters:
- Grading, re-grading, dust control and vegetation management;
- Storm water systems
- Fire suppression systems:
- Public park, trails, and open space lands.