Candice Lundquist, the agency’s chief financial officer, told senators the agency’s September outlook projects a roughly $33 million structural shortfall for FY27 under the assumptions shown to the committee (conservative federal grant assumptions and a 2.5% inflation factor on some items). She reminded the committee that FY26 had been balanced partly with a $12.5 million one‑time transfer.

Lundquist presented a rescission and decision plan to close the immediate hole and smooth the FY26–27 transition. Many items in the plan are one‑time delays (items 2–8 in the rescission spreadsheet) that free roughly $33.5 million this year but will add pressure to future budgets. Other items were described as cancellations (examples: a technology automation contract and certain device purchases) or position‑management savings where roles will not be refilled.

“That $103,000,000 payment program… it's assumed that we will once again spend $103,000,000 on the payment program regardless of the effect on inflation,” Lundquist said during the slide presentation, calling attention to the tension between a fixed paving budget and rising input prices. She said the five‑year outlook includes salary inflation tied to collective bargaining but otherwise holds many costs level as a conservative modeling choice.

Municipal officials warned of consequences. Royalton’s town administrator, Ryan Rich, described the Fox Stand Bridge closure and urged the committee to prioritize the replacement, saying the closure has stranded residents and harmed local businesses. “Residents on the west side of the bridge are effectively stranded at times, and there's a high potential of life threatening situations for the 80 affected families,” Rich said.

Brattleboro’s asset analysis also underscored the local cost of delays: the town provided an inventory-based estimate that bringing all paved roads to target condition would require about $18.8 million beyond planned local and state inputs. Municipal speakers asked for clearer guidance from AOT about which projects are delayed versus permanently canceled; AOT said it will provide the detailed rescission spreadsheet and answer town‑specific inquiries.

Next steps: AOT said the rescission plan and the five‑year outlook will feed into the governor’s recommended budget in January and that staff will return with the updated January forecast, the rescission addendum, and requested historical payment and miles data.