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AOT finance bureau outlines large federal funding share, flood reimbursements and accounting workload
Summary
Candace Sumpos, AOT chief financial officer, told the committee federal dollars comprise about 54% of AOT’s budget (85% of that from FHWA), explained accounts payable/receivable workloads and said FHWA administrative reimbursement of about $6.2 million for the 2023 flood is expected to be finalized soon.
Candace Sumpos, chief financial officer for the Agency of Transportation, briefed the House Transportation Committee on the finance bureau’s structure, federal funding mix and ongoing flood‑related accounting work.
Sumpos said AOT’s accounts payable processes nearly 40,000 payments a year and that accounts receivable is responsible for drawing down federal funds, which make up about 54% of the agency’s budget; she said roughly 85% of that federal total comes from the Federal Highway Administration. The bureau manages accounting reconciliations for the state’s Annual Comprehensive Financial Report and runs specialized systems (AOT’s STARS system) that must be kept in sync with the statewide accounting system.
Sumpos gave flood recovery metrics and described the transfer team that codes expenses when federal reimbursement is received. She said FHWA has engaged with AOT about administrative reimbursement for the July 23, 2023 flood and that the agency expects about $6.2 million for administrative expenses from FHWA; the transfer team will code the many entries required when the federal money arrives.
She also said accounts payable issued about $72 million in payments related to flood work (aggregate figure through December 30) and that the bureau continues to support recovery accounting and payment flows to towns and contractors. Sumpos said finance staff have been central to rapidly front‑loading quarterly town highway payments to assist towns with cash flow during flood response.
Committee members asked about carry‑forwards and reversion rules for maintenance budgets; Sumpos explained maintenance is presented as a single appropriation line and that underspending can be managed through reversion or carry‑forward processes but that the maintenance appropriation is not broken into discrete subline items on the white book.
Sumpos closed by offering to provide additional reconciled detail to the Joint Fiscal Office and committee staff on the funding mix and the transportation fund operating statement.
