The state has yet to spend a dime on Lexington County roads after 14 months of higher gas taxes.

The S.C. Department of Transportation continues to sit on most of the hundreds of millions of dollars collected since the gas tax hike began nearly 15 months ago.

Less than $9 million, or 2.7%, of the $324.2 million collected from July 1, 2017, to July 31 this year was spent on “external” projects, according to the most recent DOT records released.

As The Nerve newsletter first reported earlier this month, the latest online records show that DOT has spent nothing in 20 of the state’s 46 counties, including larger counties such as Lexington and Spartanburg.

And there is no clear description of the actual work performed in the other 26 counties in the first 13 months of the gas tax hike, according to DOT’s website.

DOT’s website includes a list of “project commitments” by county that the agency has identified but doesn’t give specifics of the work to be done under the categories of “Pavements” and “Rural Road Safety.”

That list has steadily grown each month: It identified a total of $505.4 million in “project commitments” as of July 31, compared to $169.8 million on Jan. 31.

Lawmakers promised that the gas tax hike would go to fix South Carolina’s pothole-riddled roads in their constituents’ communities.

DOT’s latest project list includes millions for planned “interstate upgrade” projects on I-20 in Lexington County ($34.3 million) and I-85 in Cherokee and Spartanburg counties ($4 million total).

The SC Policy Council, the parent organization of The Nerve, has contended that the gas tax law was written to allow DOT to divert tax revenue to pay off debt.

Most of the nearly $8.8 million spent by DOT on “external” projects through July 31 was listed as “Payment to Road & Bridge Contractors.” Other expenditures included the categories of “Engineering & Architectural Services” and “Printing, Binding, Advertising.”

Brundrett is editor of The Nerve, the SC Policy Council newsletter. Contact him at 803-254-4411 or rick@thenerve.org