As mentioned previously, Minnesota's transportation budget shows a significant shortfall, with nearly $1 billion in underfunded projects. This shortfall has finally shown up on the bottom line, with the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) sliding from a heady surplus in 2002 to a budget deficit of $60 million this year. The budget crunch has also shown itself in postponed projects and the most recent debacle of asking contractors to front $90 million of the major Crosstown-35W bottleneck project.
While skyrocketing construction costs (especially for materials such as steel and concrete) have eroded MnDOT's budget, there's still the significant factor of income, with the state adding no new income sources since the last gas tax increase in 1988. A ballot question this fall will allow voters to dedicate the entire motor vehicle tax to transportation, but at the expense of the state's general fund, also recently strapped for cash. The governor's plan was to add $2.5 billion in borrowed money to transportation construction, but offers no new spending for the increasingly sparse maintenance budget. At some point, a good transportation system requires construction and maintenance, and both require a steady funding stream.
Disturbingly, neither Democrat nor Republican gubernatorial candidates are offering anything new on transportation. For that, you have to look to Peter Hutchinson's "team," which hasn't shied away from a gas tax or other usage fee to balance the transportation budget.
What will the Metro Transit shortfall be? I have heard $50 million cut. Just when we need an alternative to fuel costs, polution and OPEC!
Posted by: Carol Flynn | September 18, 2006 at 01:30 PM