Wyoming committee advances plan to divert vehicle sales tax to YDOT, orders $250,000 efficiency study

The Transportation, Highways & Military Affairs Committee on June 1 approved a bill draft to divert the sales tax collected on vehicle purchases into the Wyoming Department of Transportation’s highway fund and to appropriate $250,000 for an external efficiency study.

Committee members raised longstanding concerns that state transportation funding has lagged demand and asked YDOT to show how agency efficiencies and past reforms have stretched limited dollars. The motion to draft the sales‑tax diversion — offered by a committee member during public business — passed on a voice vote; the measure would redirect an estimated $60–$65 million now flowing to the general fund toward YDOT.

The RFP‑funded study would be overseen jointly by members of the committee and YDOT, according to the motion, and is intended to answer whether the department is using current resources efficiently and where additional funding would have the most impact. Director Darren Westby told the panel he welcomes outside review and stressed YDOT’s interest in improving “effectiveness and impact,” including better life‑cycle cost analysis to guide preservation and reconstruction choices.

YDOT Chief Financial Officer Dennis Byrne noted the agency receives an annual Single Audit and has received an unqualified opinion in recent years and said the Transportation Commission provides another layer of oversight on priorities. Still, several legislators pressed for a historical accounting of prior efficiency efforts (an outside review was last discussed around 2013) and documentation of changes such as contracting out engineering work.

Industry witnesses, including Kelly Little of the Associated General Contractors of Wyoming, Kevin Hawley of the Wyoming Trucking Association, and Devin Brubaker of the Wyoming Airports Coalition, urged the committee to secure reliable funding for roads, bridges and airport access, pointing to construction‑cost inflation and workforce constraints. Little cited the FHWA construction‑cost index and a national 10‑year infrastructure estimate to underscore the funding gap.

The committee also approved a separate proposal that would direct the existing 1% discretionary severance‑tax share (from 2022 Senate File 44) fully to the highway program; that motion was carried by the committee for drafting.

Next steps: staff will draft the sales‑tax diversion bill language and the RFP language for the $250,000 study for committee review before filing in the general session. The committee signaled it will consult budget analysts and appropriators about the fiscal impacts before finalizing sponsorship.

Quote: “We never would shy away from any audit,” YDOT Director Darren Westby told the committee, “We want to make sure that what we ask a consultant to do…we get a good result that we can actually all stand behind.”

The committee left the question of formal sponsorship timing to staff and appropriators; members said they expect follow‑up revenue forecasts in October and further review at November’s meeting.