NRMCA, Members Promote Concrete Roads to Florida Officials
Recently, several representatives from various concrete companies who are also NRMCA members along with NRMCA Senior National Resource Director Amy Miller met with officials in a Florida county to discuss use of concrete as an option on all county sponsored road projects. Initially, the group suspected this process may be become long and drawn out because the county manager had previously held a high position at the state level and was not always supportive of the concrete industry’s efforts while in that role.
Aware of this background, the group put together a property tax analysis of the concrete and asphalt industries along with a plan that included preliminary meetings with other county officials. The tax analysis showed the asphalt industry had no vested interest and therefore paid nothing to the county. On the other hand, the concrete industry has many sites located throughout the county and pays a substantial amount of money to the county each year for taxes while not being allowed to bid any road or street projects that are often used to access those same properties. The meeting was successful: the county manager has agreed to begin looking for opportunities to include a concrete option.
"We have a lot of work yet to do but the door has been opened," Miller said. "The key is to start somewhere in your own county/city and begin the process with the idea not to give up. We know there are opportunities available in every community for concrete; it’s just a matter of working through the process and helping the counties figure out the economics of product longevity and maintenance. Municipalities need to understand what their investment is costing them in entirety, not necessarily what they are paying today. For many counties, an investment in concrete the last 10-15 years would have allowed them to be build new roads now as opposed to being consumed with resurfacing old ones."
National Ready Mixed Concrete Association