Without new revenue, Connecticut’s Special Transportation Fund may face a deficit beginning in July 2018, and could reach insolvency by mid-2020, Gov. Dannel Malloy (D) told Wall Street rating agencies. The state may begin making cuts to the operating budget and capital program within the next few months to delay the projected shortfall, which is exacerbated in part by growing debt costs on previous transportation bonds. The Connecticut Department of Transportation estimates a 14 cents-per-gallon gas tax increase will be required to prevent the fund from reaching such levels. Read More>>
Review of the Illinois budget passed in July has found that funding for the state’s department of transportation has been reduced by $300 million, primarily to pay bond debt accrued by the Regional Transit Authority on already-completed capital improvements. The revenue reduction has lowered the number of planned highway improvements from 400 miles of work to 189 miles. Read More>>
The Arkansas Department of Transportation on Dec. 6 proposed adding a 5.6 percent tax on the average wholesale price of fuel and extending a half-cent sales tax (approved by voters in 2012) for another 10 years in order to raise $8.4 billion for transportation projects. Highway Commission Director Scott Bennett called the proposal his “first shot” at a plan to generate new revenue, which would need to be approved by the legislature and could go before voters. Read More>>