Introduction:

The Bridge and Road Safety and Accountability (BaRSAA) program provides funding to eligible local governments for construction, reconstruction, maintenance and repair of rural roads, city or town streets and alleys, and bridges.  A portion of motor fuel tax revenues generated within the State of Montana provides the funding for this program, and allocates a portion of the fuel tax to local governments.  The bill became effective July 1, 2017.

Eligibility:

Any local government in Montana is eligible to receive BaRSAA program funds. A local government must match each $20 request for distribution with at least $1 of local government budgeted matching funds.  A local government must identify the source of the budgeted matching funds, which may not be from the motor fuel tax allocation in 15-70-101, MCA.

Timeframes:

Allocations must be made by the department by March 1st of each year.

The local government requestor may request a distribution of allocated funds by submitting a request to the department between March 1 and November 1 of the calendar year the funds were allocated.  Within 90 days of completion of a project, the local government shall notify the department of its intent to obligate any remaining funds for additional projects within five years of original allocation, or to return any unused funds to the department.  Additional projects are subject to the same request requirements as new projects.  

Fund reservation requests and all supplemental materials must be received between September 1 and November 1 of the fiscal year after the fiscal year in which the department allocated the funds.  If the local government does not request distribution of the reserved funds by November 1of the fiscal year two years after the reservation request, the funds shall revert to the BaRSAA local government restricted account to be allocated for the BARSAA program in the next calendar year.

A local government must submit an annual report to the department by December 31 of each year providing information on projects listed on the appropriate annual distribution request (including projects administered by the department or by other government agencies), changes to the list of projects funded (including withdrawn projects, or added projects), and final project costs.

Allowable Uses:

All BaRSAA funds allocated under this program must be utilized for:

(a)  construction, reconstruction, maintenance and repair of rural roads, city or town streets and alleys, and bridge projects; or roads and streets a local government has the responsibility to maintain, which does not include purchase of capital equipment; or

(b)  a match for federal funds used for the construction of roads and streets that are a part of the national, primary, secondary or urban highway systems; or roads and streets a local government has the responsibility to maintain.

All BaRSAA program funds must be utilized solely for the project(s) as described in a local government's distribution request.

The user submitting the distribution or reservation request for BaRSAA program funds must be listed in an adopted resolution as the locally designated signature authority.

Any questions regarding BaRSAA please contact Geoff Streeter at 444-9131 or gstreeter@mt.gov

Additional information about the BaRSAA program including detailed administrative rules can be found here.