Kingfisher County, a rural slice of Oklahoma with roughly 15,800 people, pulled in nearly $19 million in state road funding in 2023, while Comanche County, home to about 121,396 residents and Fort Sill, received roughly $5.9 million. A new analysis of state road grants suggests that Oklahoma’s formula for county road money is showering oil and gas producing counties with far more cash than larger, more populous counties that also maintain long county road networks.
As reported by the Southwest Ledger, the split is not only about total dollars. The Ledger’s review found striking differences in dollars per road mile that appear to favor counties with active oil and gas production.
How the CIRB formula works
The Oklahoma Department of Transportation administers the County Improvements for Roads and Bridges program, known as CIRB, which pools designated motor-vehicle tax revenue and schedules county projects through a five-year work plan. The apportionment for CIRB rose "from 5 percent in SFY 2008 to 20 percent as of the beginning of SFY 2015," according to the Oklahoma Department of Transportation.
That CIRB plan explains that projects are balanced by Transportation Commission district, county recommendations and engineering priorities, and it lays out the selection and balancing process that determines which county projects make the list each year.
Numbers show big per-mile disparities
The Southwest Ledger’s breakdown, using state figures, shows Comanche County had about 1,279 county road miles and received roughly $5.9 million in 2023, or about $4,626 per mile. Grady County, with about 1,482 miles, pulled in roughly $23.8 million, or about $16,066 per mile. Kingfisher County, with about 1,544 miles, received nearly $19 million.
Local engineers told the Ledger that those per-mile differences undercut the idea that funding cleanly follows road wear and tear, since labor, asphalt and aggregate costs are broadly similar across counties. Comanche County is also home to Fort Sill, a major Army installation, and its population was estimated at 121,396 on July 1, 2024, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
“If a county with a population of less than 16,000 people receives almost $19 million for road maintenance, how is it reasonable for a county with 120,000 people to get only $4,600 per road mile?” county official Josh Powers asked in the Ledger’s reporting. County engineer Ryan John told the Ledger that crews resurfaced fewer than 14 miles and that the largest expenses are labor, oil and aggregate, factors he says the current formula does not really capture.
What comes next
County leaders say they will press the Transportation Commission and state lawmakers to revisit how CIRB weighs production and other variables, since any change would ripple through the agency’s five-year work plan and the commission’s allocation process. The Transportation Commission oversees the CIRB schedule and the Oklahoma Department of Transportation manages project selection, so lawmakers and commissioners would both have roles in any adjustment, as outlined in the Oklahoma Department of Transportation plan.
