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CDOT tells TLRC revenues total about $2.2 billion but HTTF flexibility will shrink as new fees phase in
Summary
CDOT officials told the Transportation Legislation Review Committee that total transportation revenues this fiscal year are roughly $2.2 billion, but new fee-based revenues are increasingly narrow in use, leaving the Highway User Trust Fund (HUTF) as the department’s primary flexible money and forecast to slow growth in coming years.
Colorado Department of Transportation officials told the Transportation Legislation Review Committee on the first day of interim meetings that total revenues across CDOT and its five enterprises are expected to be about $2.2 billion this fiscal year and that the state’s shift toward fee‑funded enterprises has increased non‑fungibility of funds. Jeff Sudmeier, CDOT chief financial officer, said roughly 25% of revenues flow through the enterprises — including the Colorado Transportation Investment Office (CTIO) and the Bridge and Tunnel Enterprise — and that those enterprise revenues are statutorily limited to narrowly prescribed purposes.
Sudmeier said three recent legislative measures have materially altered the department’s near‑term fiscal outlook. He described reductions and structural changes to previously expected general‑fund transfers (spoken in the briefing as “Senate Bill 20 five‑two 57”), a temporary reduction to a vehicle registration surcharge tied to road safety (described in the briefing as “Senate Bill 20 five‑two 58”), and a transfer of multimodal funds back to the general fund that required CDOT and local planning partners to reprioritize project pipelines.
The department outlined how the $2.2 billion is allocated: about 37% for capital construction (including 10‑year plan projects and asset management), roughly 20% for maintenance and operations (road crews, snow, and pothole repair), 17% flow to local governments and MPOs, and smaller shares for multimodal services and administration. Sudmeier emphasized that only a minority of that total (the HUTF and any limited general‑fund transfers) is truly flexible; enterprise and federal funds are largely constrained by statute or grant rules.
CDOT also summarized fee changes enacted in recent sessions that will phase in over several years: a congestion impact rental fee directed to CTIO, a new oil‑and‑gas production fee for the Clean Transit Enterprise with a legislated split (70% formula grants for local transit operations, 10% competitive grants, 20% for passenger rail), and electric‑vehicle registration fees intended to replace declining fuel tax revenue as electrification grows. Sudmeier said the congestion impact fee is forecast to reach about $60 million annually in its first full year of collections.
The department cautioned committee members about long‑term pressures: construction inflation that outpaced CPI during 2021–22; one‑time federal and state funding (COPs and IIJA discretionary grants) that has driven recent capital spending but will wane; and uncertainty around the federal surface‑transportation authorization (the IIJA/IJA expires Sept. 30, 2026). Sudmeier said CDOT’s long‑range forecast shows slowing revenue growth and a loss of purchasing power once fee schedules fully phase in and are indexed to inflation.
CDOT officials recommended that legislators bear in mind the limited fungibility of enterprise and federal funds when weighing program changes and highlighted the HUTF as the critical source CDOT uses for maintenance, operations and matching federal formula funds.
The committee heard the presentation and pressed CDOT on tradeoffs: members asked whether workforce shortages and high inflation were baked into forecasts and how CDOT would respond when projects exceed budgets. CDOT leaders said large projects sometimes require scope changes and that the department has in the past scaled or reprioritized work to preserve the broader program.
