MassDOT covering winter costs with reserve funds
MassDOT is covering the costs of last winter with reserve funds.
Massachusetts hasn't yet paid all its bills for clearing state roads last winter, according to state transportation officials.
The Massachusetts Department of Transportation plans to dip into reserve funds to pay contractors, but officials there said they will need an additional appropriation of $64 million from lawmakers in the next several months to cover the full costs of the winter cleanup.
State tax revenue for fiscal 2017 is running about $462 million below expectations built into this year's budget, a dynamic the governor might address by reducing spending across executive branch agencies.
Rob Garrity, MassDOT's chief of staff, said officials want to make sure that plow drivers who provided work for the state are paid soon, and he said staff plans to talk to MassDOT's Board of Directors about the plan to send out payments on Monday.
"We'll be able to do this right away," Garrity said.
MassDOT has the authority to deficit-spend $50 million for snow and ice cleanup, but the bills have piled up $14 million higher than the agency's deficit-spending authority, according to Garrity. Garrity said MassDOT will pay contractors the $14 million using transportation reserves funded by real estate deals and other own-source revenue. He said that without an additional appropriation from the Legislature the deficit-spending and use of money from reserves will "create a problem" in fiscal 2018.
According to Garrity, there were 25 "plow-able events" last winter, and western Massachusetts was particularly hard hit.
MassDOT does not intend to skimp on its plowing of state roads to save costs.
"We're taking a safety-first policy here," Garrity said. He said, "We spend what we need to spend."
WBJ Web Partners
Most Recent
Most Recent
0 Comments