DALLAS - Revenues for the Arizona Department of Transportation will fall about two-thirds short of the amount the agency will need to maintain highways and bridges in the state over the next 25 years, according
AzDOT estimates it will need $88.9 billion between fiscal years 2010 and 2035 to meet "minimum acceptable conditions for the state transportation system," the report says.
"However, the Department has projected that transportation revenues will total $26.2 billion over the same 25-year period, a shortfall of $62.7 billion," the report says.
The revenue shortfall was included in a sunset review by state Auditor General Debra K. Davenport.
The report found that AzDOT "has generally met its statutory objective and purpose, but can improve in some areas." In its response, AzDOT agreed with the findings and specific recommendations.
AzDOT is responsible for more than 21,000 travel lane miles. The department regularly measures road conditions, such as pavement cracking and smoothness, and most lanes measured were in good or fair condition as of calendar year 2014, the report said.
Arizona faces the same dilemmas as other states but the state Legislature has struggled to produce balanced budgets since the 2008 recession after state revenues fell dramatically.
Federal and state fuel tax revenues have been relatively flat since the 2000s, and federal aid has been appropriated for shorter periods of time. AzDOT reported that, as a result, it has had to scale back on transportation projects throughout the state.
"Areas of the state without regional transportation financing sources—such as a county transportation excise tax—are more affected by the anticipated lack of revenues," the audit report said.
"Other states have taken actions to address their transportation revenue needs using various revenue-generating options, such as altering the fuel tax, replacing the fuel tax with a vehicle miles traveled tax, creating alternative fuel vehicle fees, and dedicating sales tax and/or general fund money to transportation," the report said. "Some states implemented these options after establishing a task force to research and recommend ways to increase transportation revenues in their states."
The report recommended that the Arizona Legislature consider creating a similar task force.
Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey has sworn an oath to never increase taxes, a pledge that many lawmakers have submitted to Washington, D.C., lobbyist Grover Norquist. However, a spokesman for Ducey said that fees for registrations may not be considered taxes per se.
If fuel taxes had been indexed to inflation in 1992, Arizona would have received about $4.3 billion more than it has through 2014. With the tax unchanged since that time, Arizona is collecting about $650 million in state gasoline taxes a year, less than it did in 2007. During that time, the number of vehicles travelling Arizona highways has increased to 4.6 million from 3 million, the report notes. However, increased fuel efficiency has not produced a matching increase in revenues.
