Roads Face Gas-Tax Woes

Michigan officials said the state’s road construction budget could be chopped in half by 2012 due to falling gas tax revenues.

The Michigan Department of Transportation’s budget could shrink to $626 million in 2012 from $1.4 billion in 2010. It would be the first time since 1996 that the budget came in below $1 billion, according to a report in the Detroit News.

MDOT has said it is facing deficits of around $140 million a year through 2015 and will likely lose federal funding because it cannot come up with the local match. Last year the agency issued $40 million of short-term bonds and used the proceeds as a local match to secure the federal funds.

A department spokesman said the smaller budget would mean cancelling 600 bridge repairs, 180 road projects, and maintenance projects covering more than 600 miles of roads, according to the Detroit News.

The gas tax accounts for about 50% of MDOT’s budget. A variety of transportation advocates and officials have pushed lawmakers for years to raise the gas tax or dedicate a new revenue source to raise new money and offset falling gas-tax ­revenue.

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