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AOT Division of Administration proposes $25.4M budget; director cites personnel reductions and held vacancies
Summary
Jana Morse, division director at the Agency of Transportation, told the Senate Transportation committee the Division of Administration seeks about $25.4 million this year — a 4% decline largely from personnel reductions tied to an FY26 rescission and vacancy holds; federal training funds and AGO attorney positions are included.
Jana Morse, division director for the Agency of Transportation’s Division of Administration, told the Senate Transportation committee on March 26 that the division’s budget request is about $25.4 million, composed of roughly $24.0 million from the Transportation Fund and $1.3 million in federal dollars.
“The overall, we’re looking at a 4% decrease of $1.1 million, which is primarily attributed to a reduction in personnel from the fiscal 26 rescission and from holding vacancies,” Morse said, describing staffing changes that included elimination of nine limited-service positions and one permanent position in the FY26 rescission.
Why it matters: The Division of Administration provides crosscutting services to the agency and the Department of Motor Vehicles, including facilities, occupational safety and emergency services, civil rights and labor compliance, contract administration, financial operations, learning and development, and Vermont Local Roads. Reductions in the division’s staffing affect administrative capacity that supports highway and motor-vehicle programs statewide.
Morse told senators the agency adjusted operations and held vacancies with minimal service impact and that some employees affected by limited-service terminations moved into other state government positions, including permanent roles within AOT or elsewhere in state government. She also noted the budget includes funds to cover the attorney general’s office services for five staff attorneys who support AOT’s legal needs.
On federal training funds, Morse said the division accounts for about $500,000 in federal “504E” funding under a federal-highway provision that allows agencies to use federal funds for staff training, and a separate $50,000 grant supports the National Summer Transportation Institute run with Vermont State University.
Committee members questioned which specific teams lost positions and what was being done to cover contract-administration duties after a vacancy. Morse said the eliminated positions were spread across contracting, finance, civil-rights, audit, learning and development, and emergency management, and that cross‑training and internal reorganization helped redistribute work. “We had reorganized our team a little bit to allow the skill sets that we had to be able to meet the need,” she said.
Next steps: The committee requested more detailed position-management information and historical spending trends. Morse said staff could supply those records and clarified that the division is monitoring vacancy impacts while maintaining essential services.
