HORRY COUNTY, S.C. (WBTW) – Horry County officials say the $10 million county council has allocated for road improvements, this fiscal year, will not be enough for too much longer.  The need for more money to maintain the county’s 1400+ miles of roads comes when the roads are in the best condition they’ve ever been, according to county leaders.  But, residents on the county’s dirt roads say they want more attention first.

Despite living off of Ole Larry Circle, in the Juniper Bay section of Horry County, for only four months, Diane Beaty says her neighbors are great, but her road, not so much.

“This is a fine place to live, but you know, the dirt road stays bumpy all the time, you know, when it gets wet, (there are) holes in the road,” said Beaty.

Ole Larry Circle is one of more than 650 unpaved roads in Horry County, and while county engineers maintain it with other methods, it likely won’t get paved any time soon.

“They (are) always worried about the bigger parts of the city instead of the small parts,” said Beaty.

People News 13 spoke to said they don’t think it will take much to pave Ole Larry Circle, but Horry County officials say, allocating resources to determine who needs the road money more, the rural or urban areas, is a debate that’s been going on for years.

“That will continue to be discussions during the RIDE III Advisory Committee, and then the Sales Tax Commission that ultimately gets appointed as well,” explained Horry County Spokesperson Lisa Bourcier.

Bourcier says, until then, county staff will ask for an additional $6 million per year to keep the county’s paved roads maintained at their current level.

“Right now, our roads are in the best shape they’ve ever been with within the county, but we want to make sure we maintain that.  We believe that there needs to be more money put towards the resurfacing budget for Horry County Roads.”

Now, Horry County Council has allocated $2.6 million towards resurfacing.

County engineers say that extra money will last for eight to 10 years before inflation starts to catch up, and then ask for a “significant increase” after that.

Horry County Council meets to discuss the budget for the next fiscal year at the end of March.  It has until June 30, 2015 to adopt a budget.  However, the budget cannot be approved until council hears three readings.