Tom Warne Report, 11 December 2013
In the face of an estimated $20 million funding gap in the state highway program, New Hampshire’s chief of transportation told a House panel that the DOT may be forced to lay off 700 employees in fiscal year 2014. Transportation Commissioner Christopher Clement said without another revenue source, 20 of the 89 highway sheds will be shut down as well as one of the six district offices in the state.
The state’s transportation fund gets around $12 million annually from the gas tax and another $105 million to $110 million from vehicle registration fees. A plan to raise the gas tax by 12 cents over a 12 year period was approved by the House last session but did not survive the Senate.
Sen. Jim Rausch, R-Derry, Senate Transportation Committee chairman said he will introduce a bill in the 2014 session that will raise the gas tax by 4.5 cents, to bring $32 million annually for highways. However, Senate President Chuck Morse, R-Salem, said he will not support a tax increase, as “it hurts the people who can least afford it.”
Clement told the House Public Works and Highways Committee in fiscal year 2016, the 13 maintenance crews that repair New Hampshire’s red-list bridges, would have to be cut down to seven. Additionally, the 300-member engineering staff, which designs and inspects federal projects, will be reduced by half, according to Patrick McKenna, the department’s Director of Finance.
“We may come up with the $250 million to finish the (I-93 expansion project between Salem and Manchester), but not have the engineers to do it,” said McKenna.
The last construction project paid through authorized funding has just gone through the Executive Council. After that contract, no others will be awarded without a new source of revenue, Clement said.
