DOT’S BUDGET: Deficit drops if road plans suspended

The state Transportation Board on Tuesday voted to ask the Legislature to suspend funding through next summer for two programs for local roads.

The move was intended to help bring down a deficit in the Department of Transportation’s budget. But when DOT Commissioner Gena Evans took the suggestion to a state Senate committee just hours later, it met immediate resistance.

Through the reduction of the two road programs and other moves, the DOT board avoided 566 layoffs, or one-day-a-month furloughs that were being considered.

The $52 million to be saved from the local road projects would be in addition to a roster of other reductions in equipment purchasing, vehicles and other places, as well as forgoing pay raises and eliminating vacant positions, all approved by the board. The DOT also would borrow $50 million to meet its budget. The projected deficit would then be about $3 million, which Evans said she could solve on her own.

The spending reductions sought by the board aren’t a sure thing. Evans said every decision will need approval from the Legislature and the governor. The two road programs represent a small portion of the department’s $2 billion annual budget, but are beloved by local governments and legislators. That’s because they can be spread among smaller local road projects that state and federal gas taxes often don’t cover.

Sen. Jeff Mullis (R-Chickamauga) objected immediately, saying the Local Assistance Road Program, or LARP, reduction would not be acceptable to General Assembly. He was chairing a legislative meeting on the DOT’s budget Tuesday afternoon. “That is precious and needed for economic development,” he said.

Instead, he suggested considering the one-day-a-month furlough, which would yield about $6.4 million. The DOT projected that canceling LARP this year would yield $28 million.

Another member of the committee, Sen. Chip Pearson (R-Dawsonville), suggested that legislators should write to the board members, whom they elect, to defend the program.

After the Senate meeting, he said some taxpayers in more rural areas may never see state DOT road money except in those small local projects. “That’s the only DOT they know, the half-mile or mile they may get in the center of town,” Pearson said.

DOT board members said they hope suspending the programs is temporary and that the projects can be reinstated if more money is found.

Members David Doss and Emory McClinton voted against the cuts, but they were overwhelmed in a voice vote of approval.

On another issue, some board members complained when they learned that Evans had sent a draft of the proposed budget for fiscal 2010 to the state this week before giving it to the board.

Board member Dana Lemon said she was “truly disturbed.”

Evans said that her staff had emphasized to the state that it was a draft submitted under unusual circumstances —- since the DOT’s books are still being audited and changed —- and that the state knew the board may change the proposed budget.

Thirteen members sit on the board, one from each Georgia congressional district.