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ITD seeks staff increases, targeted CEC and transit supplements as highway work grows
Summary
ITD described hiring 53 frontline positions added last year, workforce recruitment challenges and a targeted $2.50 hourly pay increase proposal for maintenance career‑path employees; the division also requested supplemental and ongoing funds for public transit reimbursements and material‑tracking software.
At the JFAC hearing, the Idaho Transportation Department described recent workforce additions and a set of enhancements for the Highway Operations Division intended to address recruitment, retention and program delivery.
The department said JFAC approved 53 new frontline positions in the previous budget cycle for district maintenance and engineering assistants; ITD reported recruiting roughly half those positions so far and that the agency currently shows about 60–70 vacancies systemwide. Director Scott Stokes said the department has reduced headcount over the prior decade and views the added positions as a “right‑sizing” to meet maintenance metrics.
ITD asked for a targeted CEC (career‑path compensation) adjustment that would raise pay across the horizontal maintenance career paths by $2.50 per hour. Brooke Dupree summarized the request as applying to 505 positions in multiple maintenance classifications. The department told the committee it loses large numbers of new maintenance employees in the first one to two years and that raising starting and step rates is aimed at reducing turnover. Stokes said the agency’s “average departure rate, just in maintenance employees, has been an average of 78 per year out of about 400,” and explained the heavy training burden — including obtaining CDLs and equipment qualifications — for new hires.
On transit and planning, Dupree told the committee the division anticipates roughly $5 million more in federal‑eligible public‑transit reimbursements for FY25 than it currently has appropriation for and requested a $5 million supplemental and, for FY26, $1.4 million ongoing plus a $10 million one‑time request to cover those payments. Metropolitan planning reimbursements were described as a $500,000 supplemental and $580,000 ongoing request. Dupree said the state reimburses local jurisdictions that secure federal funds for eligible projects.
ITD also requested $1,360,000 for automated materials tracking software to improve inspection and materials testing workflow, and $55,822,900 in replacement equipment in FY26 (about $44.8 million for heavy equipment, of which $20.8 million is eligible for a buyback program). The governor recommended many of these enhancements with some adjustments.
Committee members asked for follow‑up materials: a detailed inventory of software licenses and ongoing IT costs, and reports on recruitment and retention outcomes for the 53 positions added last year. No formal votes were recorded at the hearing.
