The Lewis and Clark County Public Works Department maintains approximately 550 miles of roads. County tax dollars pay for maintenance on high traffic roads or those that collect traffic from large areas. As with many large, primarily rural Montana counties, there is not enough funding to maintain all public roads, many of which only benefit a few properties. One option for road and other public works improvements and maintenance is to create a Rural Improvement District (RID). A RID is a legal taxing authority that can raise funds in specific areas for specific improvements and on-going maintenance.

RIDs are:

1. Citizen, developer or County-initiated.
2. Paid for by an annual property tax assessment.
3. Very specific: funds cannot be used for anything other than what is indicated in the RID resolution, for the area it applies to.

RIDs allow residents of Lewis and Clark County to finance, construct and maintain improvements for the following:

• Existing road beds and surfacing;
• Ditches;
• Ancillary road features such as turnouts for mailboxes and school busses, sidewalks, culverts, curb and gutters;
• Grading, re-grading, dust control and vegetation management;
• Storm water systems;
• Fire suppression systems;
• Flood control systems;
• Public parks, trails and open space lands.

Rural Improvement District Maps

For copies of the official resolution documents, please visit Lewis and Clark County's Clerk and Recorders office in Room 113 of the City/County Building at 326 N Park Ave.