New road work in Horry County funded by state gasoline tax funds has been at a halt since August, and it may be at least January before any more funds are released for additional projects.

The committee that administers state Department of Transportation gas funds called C-funds told area officials that the pool of money is too low to consider any new projects.

"We had to clean up the menu. We had $12 million worth of requests and less than $1 million in the fund," said Horry County's Transportation Committee chairman George "Rayford" Vereen. "We decided it would be in the best interest of everyone to allow the C-funds to accumulate so we could do things when we met. We are a small agency and we do not want people to waste their time in requesting funding for projects we can not do."

Because of increased growth and the need for more roads and people buying less gas due to higher prices this summer, Horry County's road improvement fund is stretched thin, committee officials said. State officials said the funding in Georgetown County "appears to be in good shape."

For every gallon of gasoline sold in Horry and Georgetown counties, 2.6 cents is collected by the state. Part of the money is then redistributed to the counties through County Transportation Committees for improvements to state, county and city roads. Since 2003, the Horry County committee has disbursed more than $20 million in funds.

The halt in Horry County's funding has local government officials in the county waiting to do needed repairs. Vereen said he has not heard any complaints about the committee's decision to put the brakes on funding requests, some of which were upwards of $15 million from certain entities.

"I think they understand when we sent the letter that we had to do this because of the question of funding," Vereen said.

Randy Williamson, C-fund program engineer for the state Department of Transportation, which oversees the committees in Horry and Georgetown counties said the groups often have to make difficult choices.

"It's a tough job, and I respect them. They would love to do everything, but, just like the DOT, they have so many requests," he said.

Residents can appear before the CTC to make a plea for road improvements, but the official requests must come from the local government of that area.

As of August, the Horry County Transportation Committee had about $3.7 million in their budget committed to road projects, which is expected to be their entire budget for the fiscal year, Williamson said. During 2005-06, the Horry Country Transportation Committee received $2.7 million in C-funds, while the Georgetown County Transportation Committee received $1.2 million, Williamson said.

Towns feel the pinch

Nearly all of Horry County's towns and county public works officials are feeling the effect of the committee's decision to hold off funding new projects.

Conway officials said they have about 20 city and state roads within the city that need resurfacing. But that work will have to wait until the CTC funding is available since Conway's smaller budget doesn't allow for road improvements.

"We depend on it a good bit, but it's tough because you can't always depend on it because you don't know how much money they'll have each time," said Conway's Public Works Director Jerry Barnhill. "But once they tell us the plate is clean and we can make a request, we'll be there. I'm sure hoping the first of the year we'll get some funding."

Norman Avenue, a short bumpy street off Main Street between Third and Fourth avenues, is Barnhill's top priority to be resurfaced using CTC money. The city is using some other grant funding to repair sidewalks along U.S. 701 North and Ninth Avenue instead of waiting for CTC money, he said.

North Myrtle Beach didn't receive any CTC funds this year other than for widening 0.63 miles of U.S. 17, from 11th Avenue North to the Cherry Grove exit, officials said.

"We were told there were more requests for funding than they had available," said Brian Williamsen, NMB spokesman. "We'll wait until first of year, then see what's available, then make requests."

Surfside Beach's interim city administrator Peter Bine also said the CTC funds are the town's major source of street maintenance money.

"It's critical because that's our source of funding for this particular requirement in the town. Without that [CTC funding], we'd have to raise the money through some other means," Bine said.

The Horry County School District has used some CTC money in the past to add or widen turn lanes at its schools, but doesn't have any pending requests at the moment, said Eddie Rodelsperger, the school district's chief construction management officer.

Funds spread thin

When the price of a gallon of gasoline neared $3, state and local officials knew the effect would be greater than just a pinch on their personal wallets. Vereen said he watched the C-fund diminish during that time because fewer people were spending as much on gasoline because prices were so high.

"We'll get $3 [million] to $4 million a year or somewhere in that ballpark, but if we have slow gas sales in Horry County that can vary by $1 million or more easily," Vereen said. "There's been a lot of growth, and there's no question the amount of roads in Horry County has increased, and the deterioration of them has them in need of resurfacing."

Horry County is a donor county with its C-funds, which means it takes in more funding than what is returned to the CTC for disbursement. Donor county funds, $9.5 million, are distributed throughout the state.

Officials also must pledge a portion of the money annually to paving dirt roads, Williamson said. No more than 75 percent of the funding can be spent on local paving projects, which means that at least 25 percent of the funding is to be used on state roads.

Horry CTC member Curtis Fredericks said their budget appears to be substantial, but when it comes to paving a dirt road, that funding is spent quickly.

"It sounds like a lot, but with the way things are rising it's not a lot," Fredericks said. "We make every cent we have worth while. We're frugal, not frivolous."