Transportation in the State Budget

The $2 Billion Question:
Where does the money go?

Each year, the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) hits the state budget lottery to the tune of more than $2 billion – and with it they take on the responsibility of wisely investing Wisconsin’s fee and taxpayers’ money.  (To be fair, it’s really the Governor and the Legislature that set the spending levels, but WisDOT submits funding requests to the Governor and in the end, it’s WisDOT that does the work.)

So, how does WisDOT spend it?  WisDOT divided its FY 2003 $2.3 billion budget into six categories.

At $1.1 billion, or fully 49% of WisDOT’s entire budget, State Highway Program work consists of:

  • Major Highway Development (new highways, highway widening, and major overhauls of highways)

  • State Highway Rehabilitation (repair work and some expansion)

  • State Highway Maintenance and Operations (regular maintenance)

At $519 million, or 22% of WisDOT’s budget, Local Transportation Aids is the second largest program.  It supplements transportation expenditures by local governments through three types of aids: 

  • General Transportation Aids:

  • Transit Aids;

  • Other Aids, including Elderly and Disabled Aids, Connecting Highways Aids, and Lift Bridge Aids.

At $309 million, The Local Capital Assistance programs provide local governments funding for a variety of modes within five sub-categories:

  • Local Roads and Bridges Program;

  • Aeronautics Assistance;

  • Freight and Passenger Rail Assistance;

  • Harbor Assistance;

  • Multimodal Grants and Activities.

State Operations, the fourth largest spending category at $217 million, funds the Department of Motor Vehicles, State Patrol, and inspection and maintenance programs.

 

Debt service is used to pay off debt on bonds issued by WisDOT – more than 95% of which were used to pay for Major Highway Projects.  While it is currently the fifth largest category, at $122 million, due to increased bonding in the 2003-2005 budget, it may skyrocket in the near future.

Funding for Service Centers and Transfers to Other Agencies is $47 million.

This piece also appeared in our Fall 2003 newsletter

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