PHOENIX — The Wyoming Department of Transportation says it needs an additional $62 million per year to maintain its roads and bridges, even as a recent report concludes that the state faces a sharp drop in revenue due to a weak oil and gas market.
WYDOT voiced its concerns in a report this month for members of the Wyoming legislature's interim transportation committee, one of several joint House and Senate bodies meeting in the run-up to the budget session's commencement in February. The state is heavily reliant on federal funds, which are becoming less and less certain as federal lawmakers continue to pass short-term extensions to federal highway funding legislation.
"An additional $62 million per year is needed to maintain the state's transportation system in its current condition," the report says, adding that $32 million dollars of the shortfall for the state's highways and $30 million is for bridges.
"In WYDOT's six‐year state transportation improvement program, we have anticipated a consistent level of federal funding, equal to our 2014 obligation authority, but there is a possibility that this could be drastically reduced," the report warns.
That news comes just weeks after another sobering study by the state's Consensus Revenue Estimating Group, or CREG. That report last month showed that declining oil and natural gas prices are already putting a bit of a squeeze on Wyoming's finances.
"General Fund revenue is projected to decrease from $2.76 billion in the FY 2013-2014 biennium to $2.53 billion in the FY 2015-2016 biennium and $2.09 billion in the FY 2017-2018 biennium before rebounding slightly to $2.16 billion in the FY 2019-2020 biennium," the CREG report concluded.
There has also been concern that federal clean energy mandates could slash the revenues Wyoming reaps from its nation-leading production of coal, and a University of Wyoming professor projected last month that the state's energy tax revenue could drop 10% to 40% in the coming years.
Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead, a Republican, announced that he plans to deal with the revenue shortfall in part by cutting state agency funding, as Wyoming law does not allow deficit spending. Mead said in a statement that more than $109 million was set aside as a statutory reserve in the 2015-2016 budget and that those funds can also be used to tackle the shortfall.
"The legislature has been my partner in fiscal planning from my first day in office," Mead said. "We have worked on fiscal policy that grows Wyoming's economy, creates opportunities, and allows us to move steadily forward in all revenue climates. We have established and grown savings and permanent funds. We must steer a steady course now as we navigate a period of diminished revenue."
The governor has said that his priorities in formulating the upcoming 2016-2017 budget are investment in the state and in local governments, education, programs for the state's vulnerable population, and efforts to diversify the Wyoming economy.
