Underground Safety Board to bill $7 million for 2026 operations; legislature-authorized cap is $7.4 million

The Underground Safety Board announced at a fee update workshop that it will use $7,000,000 as the operational expense input for the upcoming billing year, Executive Officer Britney Branaman said. Branaman noted the board’s fee formula is unchanged and invoices will continue to be issued and paid through regional notification centers.

Branaman said last year’s operational expense level was $5,250,000 and that the board’s new input of $7,000,000 reflects increased statewide administration allocations, staffing changes and program expansion to meet new statutory obligations. She said the legislature has authorized $7,400,000 as the board’s operational appropriation in the state budget, but "we are only going to be billing at 7 million."

Why it matters: the board’s formula distributes the operational appropriation…