Libous Bill To Aid Dedicated Fund; Tim Spring Extends Association Support
Libous Bill To Aid Dedicated Fund; Tim Spring Extends Association Support
NYSAOTSOH President Tim Spring was on hand to show Association support for the measure. "It's a shame that no one takes notice of transportation issues until there is a major accident, but it is a privilege for me to support Sen. Libous who has long supported our efforts. With an aging infrastructure, rising construction costs and limited financial resources, we need solutions to maintain the system now or we will pay more in the future," said Spring.
The Dedicated Fund was created in 1991 to support spending on reconstruction, replacement, reconditioning and preservation of highways and bridges. Since then, the Dedicated Fund has been used for dozens of non-bridge and road expenses totaling $750 million annually! This act calls for a five year phase-out of those expenses and will prohibit such uses in the future.
Most notably, the expectation is to cover expenses for DMV Operations and DOT Snow and Ice from the general fund. "With 29% of the State's bridges being rated fair or poor, we can't continue to tolerate dedicated money being spent on DMV Operations or other non-capital costs," said Libous. According to a December 2005 report by the State Comptroller, more than half (55%) of the Fund's disbursements went toward capital projects in 1994-1995, but only about a quarter (28%) of disbursements went toward capital projects in 2004-2005.
There is bi-partisan support from Sen. John Sabini, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Transportation Committee. "The creation of the Dedicated Fund was a contract with the taxpayers that, over the last few years, has not been fulfilled," said Sabini.
Reforming the Dedicated Fund has been a priority for Sen. Libous during budget negotiations for the past two years. While some success was achieved in securing a $20 million offload in 2006, the Assembly and the Governor would not agree to any further offloads this year.