A lawsuit challenging Texas County’s means of distributing monies to 17 townships for road and bridge maintenance was tossed out by an Iron County judge late last month.
Summersville resident Tom Dalaviras filed the suit and said roads and bridges would be better maintained under a county-wide system, and Texas County government is violating state statute by disbursing monies to the 17 townships that the county charges with the job.
Judge Randall Head denied the motion after hearing the case and assessed the costs to Dalaviras. He denied Texas County’s attempt to charge Dalaviras for county attorney Mike Anderson’s time.
Tom Dalaviras said he filed the lawsuit because he believed Texas County commissioners are violating the state constitution. Dalaviris cites state statute that says, “In counties having the township form of county organization, the funds credited to such counties shall be expended solely under the control and supervision of the county court (commission), and shall not be expended by the various townships located within such counties.”
Dalaviras said Texas County takes its taxes generated by such things as the sale of gasoline and distributes it to the county’s 17 townships for road and bridge work. The money is allocated by the number of road miles within each township.
“It’s just wrong,” he said after the filing. “I’m just asking them (the county commissioners) to do their job.”
Dalaviras said he believes for the most part a county-wide system would be far more efficient rather than having trucks, graders and other equipment situated in 17 townships scattered throughout the county.