Prince William County can’t afford desperately needed road projects because the county has reached its capacity to borrow money, county leaders told their legislative delegation this week.

“The public clearly wants these roads, and we don’t have a way to pay for them,” County Vice Chairman Martin Nohe said. “It worries me greatly.”

Key improvements along Prince William Parkway and Route 28, which were among nearly $88 million in road upgrades in a $300 million bond referendum that voters overwhelmingly approved last year, cannot be built without a surge of new revenue, county officials said.

The county also has scrapped the next package of road-building proposals for 2010 that included the long-awaited widening of Route 1 and a host of other critical projects.

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Because debt capacity is linked to revenue, County Executive Craig Gerhart warned the Board of Supervisors that the county’s program for building roads could end unless the county receives a surge of new money or the housing market rapidly improves.

Property values have plummeted 14 percent this year and are expected to fall more over the next two years.

The county’s voters have approved $550 million in road construction since 1988, and support for the projects topped 80 percent last year.

But the county’s financial staff underestimated the market’s downturn when composing the bond proposal. Officials anticipated declines of 2 percent and 4 percent for this fiscal year and the coming one. Instead, property values tumbled 4.7 percent and 14 percent, producing a $51 million deficit next year.

Other revenue, like the recordation tax tied to real estate and the sales tax, also have decreased, reducing the county’s capacity to borrow money.

Though new transportation taxes the General Assembly approved this year will provide at least $17 million for new projects, the county’s debt problems mean the funds can be used only as cash, instead of leveraged for future bonds.

State lawmakers representing Prince William County from both political parties vowed to push for more state funding in the General Assembly next year to widen U.S. Route 1 and fund the Prince William Parkway and Route 28 improvements.

“This situation clearly illustrates the transportation problems in Northern Virginia have not been solved” Sen.-elect George Barker said.

dgenz@dcexaminer.com