Fifth and final in a series of stories from the annual visit by PennDOT District 3-0 officials to The News-Item.
PennDOT District 3-0's budget for 2011 bridge and road construction projects is less than half of what it was last year, the dramatic cut in part a reflection of lost stimulus money and the failed Interstate 80 tolling plan.
The nine-county district contracted $169 million worth of work in 2010, but the estimate for this year is just $79 million, said district Executive Sandra Tosca.
While the new number is more in line with the district's base funding, it's been a while since it's been so low. The funding level in 2009 was $164 million and in 2008, $130 million.
"Even though the base level hasn't changed significantly, our buying power has," Tosca said.
The bottom line is that less road and bridge work will be done.
No stimulus; no tolls
For the five-county SEDA-COG planning region of District 3-0 - Columbia, Montour, Northumberland, Snyder and Union counties - funding (80 percent of it federal) has dropped from $36.2 million to $25.9 million.
"Part of that is impacted by the fact that the economic stimulus - the one shot in the arm we got - was included in those figures last year," Tosca said. "Those funds (about $45 million) have all been used."
Also reduced is the money received through Act 44, best known as the legislation designed to allow tolling of I-80. With the federal government's rejection of the plan, the only revenue generation from the law is its second component - allowing an increase to tolls on the Pennsylvania Turnpike. With that, funding dropped from $7.7 million for the Oct. 1, 2009, to Sept. 30, 2010, federal fiscal year to $2.7 for the current fiscal year - a 65 percent reduction, Tosca said. It was written into the law that the reduction would occur if tolling wasn't approved by a certain date.
Statewide, Act 44 funding for road and bridge work dropped from $450 million to $200 million.
Despite the rejection of I-80 tolling, the turnpike fee portion of Act 44 funding will remain unless the law is repealed, Tosca said.
"The law was always set for a base level," she said, but, "for us to go back to the $450 million, that would require approval to toll I-80."
That appears very unlikely given the federal government's action and recent comments from acting PennDOT Secretary Barry Schoch, who publicly declared any current proposal to toll I-80 dead.
Other factors
The drop in district funding can be attributed to other factors. For example, it had $20 million in special federal funding for 2010 for the Duboistown Bridge - connecting that borough to Williamsport - which was considered structurally deficient. And, it also received $50 million in federal funds for the Susquehanna River bridge on I-80 near Mifflinville.
"We do have fluctuations with special pots of funding," Tosca said.
Higher funding levels in recent years can also be attributed to Appalachian Development highway funds received for Route 15 improvements in the Northern Tier, work that has been ongoing for decades.
Still, a funding level of about $100 million is "more sustainable" than $79 million, Tosca said.
"We'll take all the money we can get; $79 million is a relatively low number. It's been a while (since it was that low)."
The district is funding a construction program for 2011 based on the $79 million, but there are other "shelf-ready projects" waiting if there were more funds.
"The needs are there," Tosca said.
In-house savings
Of last year's road and bridge work in the district, 80 percent was contracted work and 20 percent was done by in-house employees, or "department force."
"We make a decision based on the resources we have: How do we best use them? Are we generating a cost savings by doing that? We look very closely at how we're spending dollars and how we can get the biggest return on it," Tosca said.
For example, the district would never do microsurfacing in-house because it requires specialized, expensive equipment. Also, major bridge projects are usually left to the larger firms.
The majority of savings for in-house work is through wages. Larger, contracted highway projects require payment of "prevailing wages," which raises the cost.
State concerns
As for Corbett's budget proposal, which drew considerable attention for its cuts to education funding, Tosca said she didn't see anything "significantly alarming" for her industry.
Her concern is the impact from people driving less when gas prices are high. Less gas purchased means less tax paid.
"We saw that in prior years when gas hit the $4 (per gallon) range," she said. "We are very concerned with some of the predictions on that and the impact of our revenue.