Tag: TDOT

SC Gov. McMaster Vetoes Gas Tax, In Stark Contrast to TN Gov. Haslam, Who Championed It

Laura Baigert
Tennessee Star

  South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster posted a video “Gas Tax Veto” to his Facebook page, saying “Today I vetoed the General Assembly’s gas tax bill, and I would like to tell you why.”  He continued, “Unfortunately, raising taxes was the only solution seriously considered by the legislature.” Quite a contrast to recent events in Tennessee, where Governor Haslam was the one who would only accept a gas tax increase to fund roads through his IMPROVE Act.  The Governor persisted in his “my way or the highway” solution to road funding, despite other alternatives being offered by some members of the House of Representatives, and nearly half of his own party at 35 of 37 Republican Representatives, voting against it. Tennessee suffers from much the same problem as South Carolina, as stated by Governor McMaster, “Right now over one-fourth of your gas tax dollars are not used for road repairs.  They’re siphoned off for government agency overhead and programs that have nothing to do with roads.” As previously reported by The Tennessee Star, some of the current road “user fees” are diverted from the Highway Fund, and the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) “overhead” has grown 63 percent under Governor…

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Haslam Reduced Highway Fund Budget By 13 Percent, Grew State Budget By 20 Percent Before Proposing Gas Tax Increases

Laura Baigert
Tennessee Star

Governor Haslam reduced the Highway Fund budget by 13 percent, while he grew the State budget by 20 percent during his first six years in office. Only after he made these reductions in the Highway Fund budget did he propose the gas tax and diesel tax increases included in the IMPROVE Act when he introduced it in January 2017. From Governor Haslam’s first budget year of 2011-12 to the most recent 2016-17, Highway Fund allocations went from $867 million to $757 million, a reduction of 13 percent. HIGHWAY FUND ALLOCATIONS Link 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17  Actual Actual Actual Actual Actual Estimated DOWN  Budget $ $866,886,300 $823,104,600 $683,800,400 $792,219,800 $740,645,600 $756,856,000 -13%  Sheet 54 of 656 54 of 545 54 of 542 54 of 550 54 of 558 54 of 558 Page A-22 A-22 A-22 A-22 A-22 A-22 During that same period, the state portion of the budget, excluding the unpredictable and heavily mandated federal funding, grew from $13.7 billion in 2011-12 to $16.5 billion in 2016-17, representing a 20 percent increase. STATE BUDGET IN BILLIONS OF DOLLARS Link 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 Actual Actual Actual Actual Actual Estimated INCREASE  Billion $ $13.7 $14 $14.6 $14.8 $15.3…

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TDOT Reduces Backlog From $6 Billion to $4.7 Billion, But Total ‘Project Needs’ Grow to $10.5 Billion

Laura Baigert
Tennessee Star

  The Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) list of projects issued at the end of 2015 totaled $6.1 billion.  The updated project list included with the 2017 IMPROVE Act, on its surface, has a bottom line figure of $10.5 billion with the backlog potion being $4.7 billion. A spreadsheet document dated 11/9/15 was issued on TDOT letterhead titled “Current Backlog,” defined in the secondary heading as “Projects Approved by the TN General Assembly and Currently Under Development.”  The last line of the 13-page document states “Total Estimated Cost of Remaining Phases of Work” with a reported total of $6,095,023,692. The 2015 backlog list included a total of 252 projects in 62 counties with Shelby and Blount counties having the highest number of projects at 25 and 10, respectively. Contrasted to the projects in the IMPROVE Act listed in a report generated by TDOT dated 1/12/17, there are now 962 projects in all 95 counties at a cost of $10.5 billion. TDOT’s slick and interactive SPOT – Statewide Project Overview Tracker – displays the IMPROVE Act projects in map and grid form.   Utilizing the “grid” feature of the “project needs” page, as it is named, facilitates sorting by “yes” or “no”…

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Under Governor Haslam, Tennessee Department of Transportation ‘Overhead’ Costs Have Grown 63 Percent, While ‘Highway Infrastructure’ Spending Has Shrunk By 33 Percent

Laura Baigert

The Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) total costs for “Administration” plus “Headquarters Operation,” what would be considered “overhead” in the business world, have grown by 63 percent, from $78.9 to $117 million, in the seven years between Gov. Haslam’s first budget in FY 2011-12 and his  proposed budget for FY 2017-18. While TDOTs overhead has skyrocketed, spending on one of the main Programs for road improvements, “Highway Infrastructure,” has gone down by more than 30 percent in that same time period. Table 1 provides the details of TDOT’s “Recommended Budget By Program and Funding Source” obtained from multiple years of budget documents and includes the links to the source documents and the page references. The table demonstrates that since fiscal year 2010-11, the last year of Governor Bredesen’s administration, there are multiple Programs, including Administration, Headquarters Operation, State Industrial Access, Planning and Research, Interstate System and Highway Infrastructure and TDOT as a whole, for which the funding was reduced by Gov. Haslam’s in his first year and have never recovered. Table 1  Department of Transportation  Recommended Budget by Program Source Source Source Source Source Sheet 46 of 656 Sheet 46 of 550 Sheet 46 of 558 Sheet 47 of 558…

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Tennessee Department of Transportation Says it ‘Needs’ $46 Million For Distracted Driver Programs

Laura Baigert

The Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) has identified 15 projects in a budget category best described as “distracted driver programs” that will cost $46.4 million, part of the 962 total statewide transportation projects it has scheduled over the next 12 years at a total cost of $10.5 billion. All these projects will be built, TDOT says, provided the governor’s IMPROVE Act, which contains four state tax increases, including a 7-cent gas tax, a 12-cent diesel tax, $5 on motor vehicle registrations and 3 percent on rental cars, becomes law. The department categorized the 962 IMPROVE Act projects into eight program types: Interstate Modernization, Primary Trade Corridors, Rural Access, Safety, Urban Economic Opportunity, Highway and Facility Maintenance, Technology/Intelligent Transportation System, Local Bridges. “Through this process we have made decisions to include only ‘needs’ vs. ‘wants,’ ” Commissioner John Schroer said at the conclusion of the TDOT budget presentation for FY 2017-18. Among these ‘needs’ are the $46.4 million of projects within the “Technology/Intelligent Transportation System” category that is probably better described as “distracted driver programs.” According to SPOT, a TDOT interactive page (short for Statewide Project Overview Tracker), the program type “Technology/Intelligent Transportation System . . .  [includes] TDOT’s cameras, overhead…

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Senate Transportation Committee Approves 15 Percent Increase in TDOT Budget That Includes $278 Million From IMPROVE Act Funding

Laura Baigert
Tennessee Star

The State Senate Transportation Committee voted on Monday to approve the Tennessee Department of Transportation’s (TDOT) 2017-18 budget of $2.2 billion, an increase of 15 percent over the 2016-17 budget of $1.9 billion. Five members of the committee voted in favor of the increased funding, while three passed on the vote. Senators Richard Briggs (R-Knoxville), Becky Massey (R-Knoxville), Jim Tracy (R-Shelbyville), Jeff Yarbro (D-Nashville) and Chairman Paul Bailey voted for the budget, while Senators Mae Beavers (R-Mt. Juliet), Janice Bowling (R-Tullahoma) and Frank Nicely (R-Strawberry Plains) passed. Senator John Stevens (R-Huntingdon) did not respond for the roll call vote. The additional $300 million one year increase in the budget incorporates $278 million in additional funding that comes from the 7 cents per gallon tax increase (and 12 cents per diesel gallon tax increase) included in Gov. Haslam’s controversial IMPROVE Act proposal. The move sets up a conflict between the current version of Gov. Haslam’s plan, which passed through the House Transportation Subcommittee last week in an unusual legislative maneuver which required the governor’s allies to bring in House Speaker Pro-Tem Curtis Johnson (R-Clarksville) to break a 4-4 tie in committee. The bill that passed through the House Transportation Subcommittee temporarily…

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