There
are three bills that are must-pass in every session of the legislature: the
Transportation bill, the Miscellaneous Tax bill and the Budget bill. Because these bills deal with raising and
spending money, they are constitutionally required to originate in the
House. The first of these to come up for
a vote is usually the Transportation bill; and indeed, it will be voted on this
week.
The
Transportation bill is important because it raises the revenue and provides the
state’s share of funding to maintain our highways, bridges, local roads, railways,
airports, and public transportation. This
year’s $665M budget contains no new taxes, thanks to the forward thinking
changes made last year to the way gasoline is taxed as well as to the aggressive
pursuit of federal grants for a variety of projects. There are $104M in one-time funds in this
Transportation budget, including $15M of Federal Highway Emergency funds,
$41.1M in grants and earmarks, $45M in FEMA funds and $3.6M in Emergency Relief
and Assistance Funds as Vermont continues to recover from tropical storm Irene
and other storm disaster events.
It
is no surprise that this winter’s harsh weather, while great for the ski areas,
has been tough on the road crews and the maintenance budget. In the meantime, winter doesn’t seem to want
to release its hold on us. So, the
Transportation Committee included $3M in flexibility to allow the Secretary of
Transportation to transfer funds from the regular maintenance category to the
winter maintenance category to cover the extra costs. This transfer will not impact appropriations
for town programs. Another supplemental appropriation of $1.6M was included for
spring leveling specifically targeted to improve Class 1 Town Highways as well
as other state roads.
Alternative
transportation infrastructure is also supported by the budget. One interesting project is the Cross Vermont
Trail. This is a bike trail that is
planned to span the state from East to West.
$84K has been appropriated to help secure a $1.2M federal earmark that
may be in jeopardy if the project doesn’t move forward.
The
committee was also able to find some efficiency savings by moving Vermont’s
Local Technical Assistance Program (LTAP) better known as “Vermont Local Roads”
from its current home at Saint Michael’s College in Colchester to the Vermont
Transportation Training Center (VTTC) in Berlin. LTAPs provide training and
technical advice to municipal transportation employees and officials. The committee weighed the concerns of local
officials who like the level of customer service they get from the current
Vermont Local Roads program against the obvious benefits of using the existing
VTTC space and administration to increase programming with the same budget.
This move will eliminate $80k-$90k annual charges for rent, payroll services
and administration, triple the amount that can be spent on training/programming
with level funding, and preserve and expand current programming for municipal
road officials and employees.
Charlotte
is expected to receive more than $200,000 from the state for bridge, highway and
road maintenance. State police coverage
is also funded through this budget.
Let me finish by reminding you that you may be able to find a little extra money for yourself. The State Treasurer’s Office has more than $57 million in unclaimed property. Financial property becomes “unclaimed” after a business or non-profit entity loses contact with a customer for a period of years. There is no charge to claim funds through the State Treasurer’s Office. Search at www.MissingMoney.Vermont.gov or call 802-828-2407.
