Deschutes County officials on May 2 warned that proposals to reduce Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) funding could significantly shrink the share of the state highway fund that supports county and city operations and maintenance.

"Counties are almost exclusively funded through our share of the state highway fund," said Chris (county transportation representative). He and others said a House Republican package that would cut about three quarters of a billion dollars from ODOT funding — including elimination of the state-funded stiff funding line items — would be "highly detrimental to Deschutes County" and other local jurisdictions.

Doug Graves told the meeting he doubted the House Republican package had broad support and said accountability measures should be released and considered first. "If I had been in charge, I would have first come out with a set of accountability measures ... and then led into, but we need funding to be able to do these important projects," Graves said. Several speakers flagged ODOT financial-management issues and an unexplained $1.1 billion error on ODOT financials as a source of concern.

County officials said they plan to press the county's legislative delegation to target accountability proposals to large-capacity projects and project delivery, rather than cutting core operations and maintenance funding that supports road plowing and local projects. No formal county vote occurred; staff recommended continued engagement with the delegation as bills and amendments are drafted in the coming weeks.