UDOT outlines FY26 base, fee adjustments and transfers; flags bridge maintenance and Cottonwood Canyon legal issues

The Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) gave an overview of its FY26 base budget and a package of fee, transfer and project requests at a Transportation Infrastructure Appropriations Subcommittee meeting on Jan. 24.

LFA background and base budget: Rachel Bowe, financial analyst for the Legislative Fiscal Analyst (LFA), said the FY26 base budget contains no new appropriations to UDOT in the operating capital base and noted prior interim work that added line items to display certain sales tax expenditures in the operating and capital budget (for example, the Cottonwood Canyon Transportation Investment Fund, the Commuter Rail Subaccount and the Active Transportation Investment Fund). She also reviewed a list of nonlapsing intent language that IGG approved in October and reported UDOT requested an increase in one nonlapsing intent for highway maintenance equipment purchases because vendor delays prevented expenditure in FY25.

Fee group review and proposed fee changes: Bowe described an interim review of agency fees under the statutory process cited in the transcript (63J‑1‑504 language was referenced). UDOT proposed quantity and rate changes across several fee groups that staff recommended the subcommittee consider approving; the fee groups included access‑management permits (type 1–4 tiers tied to expected average daily trip counts), encroachment permits (landscaping, manhole access, inspection and overtime inspection), utility encroachment fees (low/medium/high/excess impact by duration and traffic impacts), special event permits and express‑lane administrative fees. LFA summarized that some fees historically understated estimated…