The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation will distribute more than $4 million in liquid fuels payments to municipalities in the 132nd Legislative District and over $12.4 million to municipalities in Lehigh County.

The City of Allentown will receive over $3.5 million and South Whitehall will receive $797,099.

This distribution marks a $621,000 increase over the $3.6 million distributed in 2015.

I voted for Act 89 to provide communities like Allentown and South Whitehall with the resources needed to maintain our network of public roads.

We have taken steps to make our roads safer, create jobs and help businesses better move goods and services in our communities.

These funds will help take pressure off municipalities so they can maintain roads and not need to raise property taxes, which is good for homeowners and small businesses.

The liquid fuels funds, which were increased by Act 89, are annual payments to municipalities to help pay for highway and bridge-related expenses such as snow removal and road repaving.

Since going into effect, Act 89 has provided liquid fuels fund increases of $1.57 million to municipalities in the 132nd Legislative District and $4.6 million in Lehigh County.

There are 120,039 miles of public roads in Pennsylvania, with 72,759 of those miles owned by municipalities and eligible for liquid fuels.

The formula for payments is based on a municipality’s population and miles of locally owned roads.

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Editor’s Note: Mike Schlossberg is state representative for the 132nd Legislative District.