DOT might sell ads on HERO trucks to raise money

The state may put private advertisements on HERO trucks and on Georgia Navigator traffic camera feeds to raise money, the state Department of Transportation commissioner told legislators Thursday.

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Kimberly Smith/ksmith@ajc.com

DOT Commissioner Gena Evans answers questions after making a case for increased funding to the Senate and House Appropriations Committee.

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Lawmakers grilled DOT Commissioner Gena Evans on the state’s transportation spending as part of budget hearings at the capitol this week. They are working toward cutting $2 billion from the state’s budget.

Evans laid out a grim funding picture for the committee, saying Georgia is the third-fastest growing state with the second-lowest per capita transportation funding in the nation.

She noted that even if the Legislature allowed a Georgia referendum on a new transportation tax, new money probably could not hit the DOT budget until 2012 at the very earliest.

Evans asked for two measures she said could put $400 million into transportation programs without raising new taxes. The first would redirect to DOT a small portion of the gas tax that now goes to the state’s general fund. The other would have the state pay the interest on DOT’s state bond borrowing. Evans said DOT is the only agency that has to pay such debt service itself.

Sen. Jeff Mullis (R-Chickamauga), chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee, said he doubted that would happen this year, with money so tight.

Some legislators criticized DOT for proposing to cut local roads programs instead of laying off people or having rolling furloughs.

“I think that’s a very difficult sell to make and I hope the department will reconsider its position in that area,” said Rep. Jay Neal (R-LaFayette).

Evans replied that staff cuts were back on the table, though DOT had already made severe cuts in other areas. “To be frank I think my clock is pretty well cleaned at this point,” she said.

Gov. Sonny Perdue recommended that the state borrow $15.3 million for express buses and park-and-ride lots, but he rejected DOT’s request for commuter rail funding. Some legislators said that put at risk more than $80 million in federal grants that the state won for commuter rail but can’t spend without putting in some of its own money.