Gov. Matt Bevin’s first move on transportation in Kentucky was to slash $112.5 million from the state budget in that area because of a revenue shortfall blamed on less money coming in from fuel taxes.
Kentucky froze those last year at 23 cents for diesel and 26 cents for gas to prevent even bigger cuts.
“We knew cuts were coming when the Legislature failed to secure the floor [which is based on wholesale prices, which can change every quarter] at 27.6 cents,” Kentucky Trucking Association President Jamie Fiepke said. “They’re going to have an impact. Any time there are cuts to the road fund, that’s not a good thing.”
Under Bevin’s plan announced Jan. 5, cities and counties will lose $62 million in revenue, with Kentucky’s Transportation Cabinet, the state’s version of a department of tTransportation, taking a $32 million hit. Kentucky’s transportation budget in fiscal 2016 was nearly $2 billion.
“We’ve had a pretty robust transportation budget over the years in Kentucky, but we’ll probably have to take a look at future road projects — whether that’s the design phase, the right of way/utility phase or the construction phase,” Transportation Cabinet spokesman Ryan Watts said.
The cuts come at the same time that Kentucky has been dealing with flooded highways near the Illinois border from late December storms as well as a fire that savaged a truck weigh station/rest area near Bowling Green. Both of those will require unexpected funding. The loss of parking at the rest area especially concerns Fiepke, who also wonders if the proposed widening of Interstate 65 will be delayed.
