Local Government Snapshot

N E W YO R K S TAT E O F F I C E O F T H E S TAT E CO M P T R O L L E R
Thomas P. DiNapoli State Comptroller

July 2011

Local Government Spending on Highways

New Yorks 57 counties (excluding New York City), 61 cities, 932 towns and 5561 villages reported spending
nearly $2.6 billion to maintain 187,000 highway lane miles in 2009.2 Highway maintenance is one of the largest
categories of expense for local governments, representing 7.6 percent of total local government expenditures.
Nearly 80 percent of highway spending occurs at the town and county levels.

It is estimated that there are between 1,000 and

1,500 local government highway departments
statewide that construct, repair and maintain
roadways and walkways.3 A recent study of shared
services opportunities in Ulster County revealed
that restructuring the provision of highway services
presented the best prospect for potential savings.4
Given the level of spending that occurs for the
services these departments provide, and the
number of different government entities currently
providing them, greater sharing of highway
services could generate significant cost-savings
for local taxpayers. This may be especially true in
the area of administrative efficiencies.
Studies that have examined and measured
the potential for savings through cooperative
activities and shared services have generally
identified savings of between two to five percent
of total costs. If local officials focused on sharing
the administrative components of their highway
operations, savings of two to five percent could
potentially produce taxpayer savings of $37 million
to $93 million statewide.5
The portion of highway spending upon which this
savings figure is calculated excludes capital outlay.
This exclusion recognizes that adequate and timely
maintenance of local infrastructure is a fiscally
prudent practice overall, regardless of which local
government is responsible for the activity.

Local Government Spending on Highways: 2009

$1,400
Capital Expenditures
All Other Expenditures

$1,200

$1,169
$172

$1,000
Millions

Of the $2.6 billion spent on highways in 2009,

$1.9 billion (72 percent) was related to
administration and operations and $0.7 billion (28
percent) was attributable to capital spending.

$860*

$800
$363

$600

$997

$400

$310

$200

$254*

$498

$144

$50
$203

$166

$0

City

County

Town

Village

*Numbers do not match due to rounding

Highway Expenditure Breakdown by Category, 2009

100%
90%
80%
70%

20.6%
48.0%

60%
40%

Equipment and Capital

40.8%

50%
24.3%

24.7%

44.5%

37.4%

23.5%

30%
20%
10%

Personal Services and

Employee Benefits
Contractual

27.7%

32.0%

City

County

38.6%

37.9%

Town

Village

0%

Division of Local Government and School Accountability

Local Government Snapshot

Aggregate Costs of Highway Services
The costs of maintaining highways can
vary due to many factors. For example,
roads that carry more traffic or that are
located in densely populated urban
centers may require more frequent
plowing than less traveled, rural roads.
Further, costs can fluctuate from year
to year as local governments purchase
expensive equipment or embark on
capital improvement projects.
Based on aggregate highway spending
reported in 2009, the average statewide
cost of maintaining a lane mile was
$13,841. Cities and counties tend to have
higher costs per mile of road maintained
($21,966 and $20,260, respectively),
followed by villages ($18,536), while
towns tend to spend the least per lane
mile ($9,985). [Appendix A]
Governments located in the Mid-Hudson
and Long Island Regions spent $20,807
and $20,492 per lane mile, respectively,
in 2009. These governments maintain 26
percent of county, city, town and village
roads statewide, but account for nearly
40 percent of total highway spending.
In contrast, Southern Tier governments
spent $8,255 per lane mile, maintain
14 percent of the municipal roadways
across the State, and are responsible
for less than 9 percent of statewide
highway expenditures.
Based on aggregate municipal highway
spending in each county, the cost of
maintaining a lane mile ranges from
$35,504 in Westchester County to
$5,634 in Lewis County, compared
to the statewide average of $13,841.
However, Westchester County reported
a large capital expenditure in 2009,
inflating the county per-lane mile cost.

Aggregate Highway
Expenditures Per Lane Mile

Clinton
Franklin
St. Lawrence

Jefferson

Essex

Lewis
Hamilton
Warren
Herkimer

Oswego
Niagara

Orleans
Monroe

Erie

Fulton

Onondaga
Cayuga

Ontario
Wyoming

Livingston

Schuyler
Cattaraugus

Allegany

Saratoga

Montgomery

Madison

Schenectady

Seneca

Yates

Rensselaer

Otsego

Cortland

Chautauqua

Washington

Oneida

Wayne

Genesee

Chenango

Tompkins

Steuben
Chemung

Greene

Delaware

Broome

Tioga

Albany

Schoharie

Columbia

Ulster
Dutchess

Less than $7,500 per mile

Sullivan

$7,500 - $10,000 per mile

Putnam

Orange

$10,000 - $15,000 per mile

Westchester
Rockland

$15,000 - $20,000 per mile

Suffolk

More than $20,000 per mile

Nassau

New York City

Aggregate Highway
Expenditures Per Capita

Clinton
Franklin
St. Lawrence

Jefferson

Essex

Lewis
Hamilton
Warren
Herkimer

Oswego
Niagara

Orleans
Monroe

Erie

Fulton

Onondaga
Cayuga

Ontario
Wyoming

Livingston

Schenectady

Yates

Schuyler
Cattaraugus

Allegany

Otsego

Tompkins

Chenango

Steuben
Chemung

Saratoga

Montgomery

Madison

Seneca
Cortland

Chautauqua

Washington

Oneida

Wayne

Genesee

Tioga

Broome

Delaware

Rensselaer
Albany

Schoharie

Greene

Columbia

Ulster

Less than $225 per capita

Dutchess
Sullivan

$225 - $300 per capita

$300 - $400 per capita

Orange

Putnam
Westchester

Rockland

$400 - $600 per capita

More than $600 per capita
New York City

N e w Yo r k S t a t e O f f i c e o f t h e S t a t e C o m p t r o l l e r

Suffolk
Nassau

Local Government Snapshot

The statewide average of highway spending per

capita in 2009 was $233, with counties reporting
the lowest spending per capita ($77) and cities
reporting the highest ($141). Per capita spending in
towns and villages was $131 and $134 respectively.
[Appendix B]
As one would expect, spending on a per capita
basis tends to be higher in rural regions, as there
are fewer people to support the cost of maintaining
roads. Costs per capita are highest for residents in
the North Country Region ($361), while residents in
the heavily populated Long Island Region pay the
least ($165 per capita).
When highway spending is aggregated at the county
level and benchmarked against the population paying
for those expenses, the overlapping per capita cost
ranges from $678 in Delaware County to $148 per
capita in more densely populated Monroe County,
compared to the statewide average of $233.

Highway Expenditures and Miles by Region

Percent of Total

Region

Expenditures

Miles

Capital District

9.7%

11.3%

Central New York

7.6%

8.5%

Finger Lakes

9.9%

11.4%

Long Island

18.3%

12.4%

Mid-Hudson Region

21.2%

14.1%

Mohawk Valley

5.5%

6.9%

North Country

5.9%

9.6%

Southern Tier

8.5%

14.2%

13.4%

11.7%

Western New York

Opportunities for Cost Savings

Given the nature of overlapping highway service provision, many
municipalities are already realizing savings through the sharing of
services and equipment. Other municipalities have structured formal
shared service agreements, often with the help of the Department
of States administration of the Local Government Efficiency Grant
Program. Some examples of the types of sharing arrangements and
associated savings are provided on the following page.
To the extent that local officials can streamline the administrative
aspects of their operations, potential savings could be quite substantial.
Ulster County recently studied diminishing the role of the county
highway department by decentralizing most related services to the
town level. This type of regional approach could save the County
between $1 million and $7 million annually, or between 2 and 15
percent of total County highway spending.6 Monroe, Jefferson and
Chemung County already have or are in the process of decentralizing
the County highway function to towns.

Cayuga County
In Cayuga County, each municipal
government, from the county down
to each city, town and village, has
a highway department 34 in all.
These governments spent nearly
$30 million in 2010 to maintain 2,715
lane miles of roadway. Attempting
to capitalize on efficiencies, some
county and town leaders in Cayuga
County are working to develop a plan
to phase out the County Highway
Department and transfer its work to
the towns.

N e w Yo r k S t a t e O f f i c e o f t h e S t a t e C o m p t r o l l e r

Local Government Snapshot

Examples of Shared Highway Services and Projected Savings
Participant A

Participant B

Participant C

Shared Service

Savings $

Broome County

Town of
Chenango

Shared salt storage facility

Broome County: $70,400 annually

Town of Chenango: $55,200 annually

Cayuga County

Town of
Sempronius

Purchase of a shared salt storage facility

and shared highway services

Cayuga County: $89,265 annually

Town of Sempronius: $6,845 annually

Chautauqua
County

Town of Ellicott

Countywide consolidation of highway

surface treatments

Chautauqua County: $532,800

Franklin County

Municipalities in
Franklin County

Municipalities will share paving equipment

with Franklin County

Franklin County: $80,402 annually

Monroe County

Municipalities in
Monroe County

Municipalities will share highway

equipment with Monroe County

Monroe County: $83,336 annually

Ulster County

Town of
Hardenburgh

The County contracts with the Town to

provide winter maintenance on nine miles
of County road in the Town of Dening.

Savings not known

Wyoming County

All Towns

Wyoming County is in the process of

consolidating all highway maintenance
for its towns

Savings not known

City of
Schenectady

Schenectady
County

Towns of
Niskayuna
and Rotterdam

Municipalities have agreed to purchase a

shared salt storage facility

The City of Schenectady: $26,400 annually

Town of Rotterdam: $26,400 annually
Schenectady County: $173,000 annually

Town of Clayton

Village of
Clayton

Jefferson
County

The Town and Village share a joint highway

facility. The Town and County cooperate on
road and bridge maintenance work, and the
Town provides the County with access to
tools and equipment.

Savings not known

Town of Montague

Town of
Harrisburg

Town of
Pinckney

Located in rural Lewis County, the three

towns cooperatively purchase equipment
to clear roadside brush and debris.

Town of Montague: $11,455 annually

Town of Harrisburg: $11,455 annually
Town of Pinckney: $11,455 annually

Webster Central
School District

Village of
Webster

The School District and the village

received grant money for a shared fuel
facility.

Webster Central School District: $1,000

Village of Webster: $19,131

1
2

As of January 1, 2011, there were 555 villages in New York. The Village of Limestone dissolved into the Town of Carrollton.
Excluding New York City and its boroughs; lane miles are the length of roadway, multiplied by the number of lanes. Since
required of all lanes of a roadway, lane miles were used in this analysis.

road maintenance is

According

4
5

Drapkin, Jonathan. July 2010. Intergovernmental Collaboration in Ulster County: An Action Plan for Moving Forward.
Previous studies on cooperation have identified 2 to 5 percent savings as a reasonable expectation for sharing of administrative functions. Spending

Hattery,

to OSC data, there are 1,048 highway superintendents in counties, cities, towns and villages, statewide. There are also a
number of departments (e.g., public works) that may be responsible for highways that are not included in this number. The Local Government
Commission on Efficiency and Competitiveness estimated 1,500 highway departments, statewide, in its 2008 report on highway services
(www.nyslocalgov.org/pdf/HighwayServices.pdf).

on capital outlay was excluded from the savings estimate. This estimate does not take into account shared services that may already exist.

Michael. July 2010. Identifying Opportunities for Highway Service Cooperation. http://www.co.ulster.ny.us/municipalities/FINAL%20
HIGHWAY%20Study%207-14.pdf.

New York State Office of the State Comptroller

Division of Local Government and School Accountability
110 State Street, 12th Floor Albany, New York 12236

w w w. o s c . s t a t e . n y. u s

July 2011

Oneida

13,929 33,358 12,911 17,923 16,611

36,387 15,791 11,733 19,069

Orange
Putnam

Sullivan
Ulster
Westchester
MidHudsonRegion

17,204
26,831
23,293

18,245 18,647 11,446 14,480 13,351

Dutchess

Rockland

14,066 17,051 27,842 25,820 24,539

54,626 14,454 15,270 17,876

14,066 31,191 18,169 22,030 20,492

10,956
15,829
21,536
17,129
12,018
14,766
13,702
16,320
23,024
16,319

12,680
8,287
16,997
14,761
7,981
7,670
8,864
10,236
6,615
12,121

20,488
20,864
242,283
48,298

8,060 17,477 10,999

9,013 18,129 12,156
17,500 22,702 35,504
13,798 19,958 20,807

47,089 35,957 18,586 32,087

9,134
6,161
18,266
9,680
7,216
4,887
7,801
7,055
5,402
10,188

10,609
9,404
16,566
11,216
12,310

Nassau
Suffolk
LongIslandRegion

15,225
12,275
19,608
27,547
8,355
11,534
9,441
16,769
6,997
15,283

27,247
20,480
20,857
10,039
18,809

32,370

10,034
34,224

13,906

6,094
5,633
11,864
6,990
7,965

Genesee
Livingston
Monroe
Ontario
Orleans
Seneca
Wayne
Wyoming
Yates
FingerLakesRegion

15,503
13,205
28,781
17,478
18,343

28,720 8,139 5,977 11,469 8,585

25,970
16,101
7,431
18,310
13,140

Cayuga

16,484 3,888 12,322 7,158

22,113 17,828 8,168 15,779 11,902

Washington
CapitalRegion

Cortland
Madison
Onondaga
Oswego
CentralNYRegion

11,900 17,187 9,763 12,733 11,491

22,148 30,197 13,526 9,236 20,183

5,636 17,132 8,554 32,468 10,652

Saratoga

Schenectady
Warren

18,523 11,827 6,908 13,872

5,328

18,257

7,789

21,966 20,260 9,985 18,536 13,841

**Westchester County had a large capital expenditure in 2009, inflating its per mile expenditure totals.

*In some instances, municipalities have not reported financial data to the Office of the State Comptroller prior to
publication. While most of the missing data is from small towns or villages, missing data from Columbia County in
the Capital Region and the City of Ithaca in Tompkins County in the Southern Tier could have a significant effect on
per mile calculations.

Statewide

21,992 18,409 11,124 12,862 16,166

33,540 19,296 10,006 16,610 15,946

Niagara
WesternNYRegion

10,842
9,555
6,554
8,296
6,794
5,809
8,840
7,086
8,610
8,255
10,877 4,153 10,205 5,816
25,470 5,524 15,448 11,176
11,935 6,414 14,510 9,934
23,178 19,314 20,336 25,328

14,399
8,837
16,278
14,196
17,159
13,399
14,482
8,985
12,532
13,381

19,408
23,592
44,582

9,292
5,139
4,148
5,758
5,079
3,573
4,312
5,067
7,290
5,486

10,387
5,634
7,855
8,530

Allegany
Cattaraugus
Chautauqua
Erie

12,272
13,799
12,699
21,260
7,653
11,708
15,909
17,314
12,348
13,590

19,562
10,341
10,720
16,155

15,494
21,120
22,588

36,179

41,391

21,884

7,109
4,301
4,445
5,452

Broome
Chemung
Chenango
Delaware
Otsego
Schuyler
Steuben
Tioga
Tompkins
SouthernTierRegion

9,489
9,789
17,327
13,240

18,708 4,407 18,457 8,621

14,150 8,739 36,094 11,189

39,256

16,549
29,754

24,478 9,726

10,129 5,645 21,899 7,666

13,476 14,779 7,532 15,229 10,897

11,847 19,889 7,713 15,478 11,828

32,821 13,221 8,569 18,945 11,971

15,189 13,981 8,721 7,636 11,756

CityCost
CountyCost TownCost VillageCost Aggregate
($)
($)
($)
($)
CountyCost($)
14,058 10,048 5,861 12,216 8,160

Jefferson
Lewis
St.Lawrence
NorthCountryRegion

Franklin

Essex

Clinton

Schoharie
MohawkValleyRegion

Hamilton
Herkimer
Montgomery

7,764 25,358 6,784

15,927 6,023 6,127 8,651

19,580 10,049 7,218 27,461 10,022

Greene
Rensselaer

15,916

Columbia

County
Fulton

CityCost
CountyCost TownCost VillageCost Aggregate
($)
($)
($)
($)
CountyCost($)
31,665 38,179 10,657 20,439 19,959

County
Albany

HighwayExpendituresPerLaneMile,2009

Appendix A

103 120 122 147 254

225 136 200 83 353

95 149 106 288

64 40 115 124 148

221 125 222 155 365

78 134 95 243

CentralNYRegion

Genesee

Livingston
Monroe

Ontario
Orleans

98 54 110 112 191

85 184 84 273

133
111
110

Orange
Putnam

Rockland
Sullivan
Ulster
Westchester
MidHudsonRegion

243
536
262
243
240

103 50 134 122 187

Dutchess

115
177
114
130
123

42 110 160 166

69 34 103 142 165

Suffolk
LongIslandRegion

139
297
159
98
132

69 24 96 136 165

Nassau

57
209
97
105
85

90 69 140 129 216

196 212 148 459

103 215 211 378

107 103 122 257

84 145 156 270

FingerLakesRegion

57 105 97 164 206

186 145 146 84 307

Onondaga
Oswego

Wyoming
Yates

169 166 138 131 346

Madison

209 105 161 102 293

132 160 210 254 368

Cayuga
Cortland

Seneca
Wayne

149 117 106 300

157 76 144 146 236

195
201
210
332

Washington
CapitalRegion

329
135
60
533

137
118
145
50

Rensselaer
Saratoga
Schenectady
Warren

136
136
102
232

184

260 249 276

170 164 76 349

Columbia
Greene
43
56
87
130

194 75 122 147 237

Albany

CountyCost TownCost VillageCost Aggregate

($)
($)
($)
CountyCost($)

CityCost
($)

County

HighwayExpendituresPerCapita,2009

Appendix B

CountyCost TownCost VillageCost CountyCost

($)
($)
($)
($)

227
103
207
145

166
145
226
174

84
145
169
143

400
248
480
327

268 297 393 605

186 293 95 505

43
77
155
245

132
101
211
385

108
93
147
167

188
221
385
678

**Hamilton County has the highest per capita cost per lane mile at $1,592. However, this benchmark may be
misleading due to the large number of seasonal residents who are not factored into Hamilton Countys population.

*In some instances, municipalities have not reported financial data to the Office of the State Comptroller prior to
publication. While most of the missing data is from small towns or villages, missing data from Columbia County in
the Capital Region and the City of Ithaca in Tompkins County in the Southern Tier could have a significant effect on
per capita calculations.

141 77 131 134 233

188 49 124 107 207

213 79 132 126 251

Niagara
WesternNYRegion
Statewide

210 99 169 131 311

223 63 112 127 224

153 211 93 395

198 254 228 165 499

74 128 133 182

163 111 180 134 310

446 223 212 153 511

98 156 89 273

240 118 259 208 398

152 172 222 379

110
194
162

146 183 167 83 375

220 147 180 131 361

198 145 149 383

293 86 161 172 310

159 85 140 103 241

134
105

121

711 850 484 1,592

343 246 168 147 485

131 53 164 182 213

CityCost
($)

Chautauqua
Erie

Allegany
Cattaraugus

Tompkins
SouthernTierRegion

Steuben
Tioga

Otsego
Schuyler

Broome
Chemung
Chenango
Delaware

St.Lawrence
NorthCountryRegion

Lewis

Franklin
Jefferson

Essex

Clinton

Montgomery
Oneida
Schoharie
MohawkValleyRegion

Hamilton
Herkimer

Fulton

County