Vermont town road budgets will remain in limbo until legislators agree on how—or if—they will resume transportation aid.
Withheld as a result of concerns over Transportation Fund shortfalls, the accustomed third and fourth quarterly payments for the current fiscal year could be put to good use this winter and spring, town managers say.
“We face two squeezes right now: the weather—which is not giving us a break—and uncertainty over state aid,” said Richmond Administrator Rod Rodjenski.
“We might have to cut back on salt and sand, particularly if the winter keeps going at its current pace,” Rodjenski said. “Hopefully we won’t. Hopefully, we’ll hear more from Montpelier soon.”
On Dec. 17, the legislative Joint Fiscal Committee, a panel of 10 legislators who manage fiscal decisions between full-member sessions, voted to freeze the second half of regular transportation funding to towns (about $12 million).
It was a strategy, the committee explained, better than outright cuts, which constituted policy changes requiring more thorough legislative review.
Annually, the state’s contribution amounts to almost 10% of the town’s annual highway budget.
Rodjenski said a carry-over surplus of $25,000 from last year’s town budget will help buffer the potential shortfall.
But the prospect of an extended freeze on state transportation funding complicates the already bleak transportation sessions.
