More snow and more costs to plow and fix the roads. Do we have the money for this?

As I wait for the snow to fly today, a couple of recent state reports give us a good look at what we have available to fix with our state's deteriorating roads. The first has to deal with how much the already-brutal winter has taken out of the state's highway maintenance funds.

That report was sent over a couple of weeks ago, and noted that the Wisconsin DOT needs to add money to take care of the supplies and other costs associated with the weather of the last few months.

…As of March, the 2018-19 winter severity index was 25 percent above average, with some counties being hit much harder than others. In preparation for this possibility, at the beginning of the fiscal year the department had reserved $11 million in program funds to cover unanticipated winter costs, and $2.5 million to cover non-winter weather events such as flooding.

As winter costs rose, it became apparent the reserve would not be sufficient. The Department identified federal funding to supplement budgeted segregated state funding for certain federally eligible activities. This allowed the segregated winter reserve to be increased to $15 million. Unless late winter weather or spring flooding significant exceeds expectations (uh oh...) , the Department does not anticipate an FY19 request for supplemental funding under Sec 13.10 Wis. Stats...

But just because WisDOT isn't going to ask for extra state money, it doesn't mean they haven't had to tap into the piggy bank to keep traffic moving through the weather. The report notes that $8.4 million in prior year carryover funds were used to buy more salt for the roads in this winter, and they have had to move around other money to save some funds for this budget.

Even with the purchase of the full amount of the FY19 [salt] contract, the inventory going into the winter of FY20 is expected to be lower than normal, increasing the FY20 needed purchase. Salt prices have continued to increase steadily and are now 21% higher than 5 years ago and 9 percent higher this winter than last. At the time of this report, salt demand in Wisconsin and neighboring states exceeds supply, The Department anticipates the price per ton will increase significantly for less winter.

In preparation, the Department allocated $5 million in federal funds to the Highway System Management and Operations federal appropriation for pavement marking and sign bridge projects that are federally eligible. By using federal for a portion of activities more typically 100% state funded, the Department anticipates carrying over a $5 million balance in [this account] that can be used for next year's large salt purchase.

These moves mean that there is less money available for federal and state projects in the future that has to be filled in with new money.

Fortunately, that new money may be arriving. That was revealed on Friday, when Governor Evers' WisDOT sent another report that contained a plan for new money being sent down from Washington DC. Basically, the state is getting more money in supplemental and redistribution funding than we had budgeted for, which is something Scott Walker was counting on when he underfunded certain projects in prior budgets.

Combined, the state received $874,150,109 of federal highway funds in SFY19 related to the requirements under s.84.03(2)(b) Wis. Stats., for SFY 2019 by 2017 Wisconsin Act 59. Consequently, a Federal Expenditure Plan is required to allocate $76,691,409 in federal highway funds to appropriations in [the Wisconsin DOT part of the budget].

$9 million of those dollars were mentioned above, as a way to pay for the extra winter maintenance. The rest of it would be split up via

$43 million more to State Highway projects.
$24.7 million to Local Road projects

Now the GOP-controlled Joint Finance Committee could OK this plan, and it'll help fix some Scottholes and keep road projects moving, while allowing us to handle severe weather and the future road repairs that will be needed for those events. Or they could make a show of turning this down and/or combining it with budget talks, which would delay getting this $76.7 million out the door. Keep an eye on which choice they make.

Those decisions will come after this latest snow ends, and the forecast says it will be followed by more rain and possibly more flooding in certain parts of the state. And the inability for Scott Walker and WisGOP to set aside enough money to handle these issues and regular highway needs is why we have our current funding problem in the first place, and this one-time federal bailout isn't something we can count on to make ends meet in the future.