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Road fund falls short by about $72.4 million; committee hears gas‑tax suspension and formula changes as drivers
Summary
The finance secretary told the committee the road fund ended the year about $72.4 million below the original enacted budget, mainly because the statutory motor‑fuels tax rate computed for the year was lower (about 4.1¢) than budgeted; a temporary suspension of the gas tax in May–June also reduced receipts and revenue‑sharing to local governments was cut to help balance the year‑end shortfall.
Secretary Hicks said the road fund actuals were approximately $1.821 billion, a $72.4 million shortfall versus the original enacted budget. He attributed most of the shortfall to a lower motor fuels tax rate calculated by statute (he cited a roughly 4.1¢ lower rate for the year), not to reduced mileage.
Hicks explained balancing steps taken at year‑end: the largest was a $65 million reduction in the revenue‑sharing formula payment to cities and counties, lapses/returns of closed road‑fund capital project balances, and about an $8 million reduction in continuing highway construction appropriations. Committee members pressed whether local governments were bearing a disproportionate share of the burden given the temporary governor‑ordered suspension of the gas tax; Hicks said the governor’s action had a monthly revenue effect estimated at about $27 million (actual closer to $20 million), but that the bulk of the shortfall resulted from the statutory rate calculation and an overstatement in the revenue‑sharing appropriation in the original estimate.
