Judge Ransom signs resolution

Cass County Judge Travis Ransom wrote recently about a “modern fix for a 70-year-old problem”.

Ransom, along with all four County Commissioners, signed a resolution in support of the plan at the last Commissioners’ Court meeting on Feb. 10.

Smith County is set to follow and it’s possible things will snowball quickly once more counties get on board.

The newly adopted resolution urges the Texas legislature to modernize how county roads are funded.

They’re hoping lawmakers will consider the proposal in the upcoming legislative session.

As Ransom said in his last article, one of the state’s outdated resources is the Lateral Road Fund, created to support county roads. But the funding mechanism hasn’t changed since 1954.

For more than 70 years, counties have received a flat $7.3 million per year, drawn from the state motor fuels tax. Cass County’s share is about $37,000 annually.

Ransom’s solution to the problem facing our county roads is simple.

If Texas allocated just one penny of the existing 20cent state motor fuels tax—five percent—to counties, it would:

• Increase county road funding from $7.3 million to nearly $190 million per year.

• Reduce counties’ reliance on property taxes.

• Improve safety on roads where Texans are statistically at higher risk.

• Modernize the Lateral Road Fund for the first time in seven decades.

• Strengthen rural infrastructure without raising taxes.

Motor fuel taxes for January of 2026 were $327 million, up four percent from January 2025.

“A single penny of the motor fuels tax would multiply county road support more than twenty-fivefold, giving counties the resources to address safety, maintenance, and growth demands,” Ransom said.

There is more at stake than most realize. Ransom says safety concerns are also a driving force behind the effort. Texas has not had a fatality-free day on its roadways in more than two decades.

“Seven percent of those fatalities happen on county roads. We can’t keep them safe enough for travelers. And that’s a real challenge. That’s a real problem,” said Ransom.

The problem can be fixed with a penny. Hopefully, the legislature will act upon it.