The Transportation and Infrastructure Interim Committee on Oct. 14 approved a Legislative Fiscal Analyst (LFA) proposal to restructure the Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) budget, consolidating multiple accounts and creating a new capital funding structure intended to improve transparency and flexibility.

Rachel Bowe, senior financial analyst with the LFA, told the committee the proposal reduces the department’s budget presentation from 35 line items to 14 and would create a new expendable funds line item called "Transportation Infrastructure Annual Investments." Bowe said creating the expendable line item "would give UDOT the flexibility to spend up to the amount of designated sales tax that they get every year" and would then transfer those amounts into the applicable capital projects funds.

What changes: the LFA plan would:

- Create a single expendable‑fund line item that aggregates fixed funding sources (designated sales tax, general fund appropriations and the transportation fund) and immediately transfer those appropriations into the appropriate capital projects fund for each TIF subaccount (active transportation, Cottonwood Canyon, commuter rail, etc.).

- Consolidate closely related on‑budget line items (for example, engineering and support services, operations and maintenance with regional management) to simplify navigation and budgeting.

- Combine transit and rail activities under a new Transit Transportation Investment Fund line item to house the Transit Trust Fund (TTF), commuter rail subaccount and related rail items in one place.

Why it matters: supporters said the structure allows the Legislature and the public to see how much fixed revenue flows into transportation capital funds each year and provides UDOT with some programmatic flexibility while preserving legislative oversight. Bowe emphasized the change also seeks to avoid duplicate on‑budget line items that have been created in the past several years.

Committee action: Chair Wilton moved that the committee "approve the restructure recommendations presented by the legislative fiscal analysis today" and authorized analysts to make technical adjustments necessary to implement the proposal in the transportation and infrastructure base budget. The motion passed by voice vote.

Implementation notes and follow‑ups: Bowe said the structure will be coordinated with the Division of Finance and that the new expendable line item will show zero balances (all appropriations would be transferred annually to capital projects funds). She said the change will also make it easier to answer simple questions such as how much designated sales tax supports roads in a given year.

Ending: the committee adoption clears the proposal to be included in the transportation base budget language the LFA will draft for the 2026 General Session, with staff authorized to make technical changes in consultation with subcommittee co‑chairs.