Legislative Budget Board met on September 13, 2018 to hear from the Texas Department of Transportation concerning the agency’s Legislative Appropriation Request for the 86th Session and key exceptional items.
This report is intended to give you an overview and highlight of the discussions on the various topics the committee took up. It is not a verbatim transcript of the hearing, but is based upon what was audible or understandable to the observer and the desire to get details out as quickly as possible with few errors or omissions.
Agency Presentation
James Bass, Texas Department of Transportation
- TxDOT is grateful for additional funding
- Last year we committed almost $8 billion to project implementation
- As we enter 2019, we appear on pace for $500 million per month
- As well as additional funding from locally led projects
Stephen Stewart, Texas Department of Transportation
- Around $30 billion in LAR
- This includes continued funding of project development and delivery, routine system maintenance, and debt service
- Federal reimbursement accounts for about 30% of our sources in LAR
- Bond proceeds expected to be at $0
- Around 60% of LAR is going to project development and delivery
- We are requesting up to 5% for transfer ability between project strategies
- This would grant flexibility to accelerate projects
- We request that once additional dollars are received we can spend them
- We are requesting a 3% increase for repair and rehabilitation of buildings
- We want to consolidate locations into our Austin campus
- Exceptional item 1
- Proposition 12 debt service that will be paid from Proposition 7, reducing the dollars available for project delivery
- We are requesting that funding be taken from GR rather than Prop 7
- Exceptional item 2
- This item relates to multi-modal, rail, aviation, public transportation, and ports
- We have worked with the Port Authority Advisory Committee
- Exceptional item 3
- We are requesting 313.5 FTEs to focus on project development and delivery
Brian Ragland, Texas Department of Transportation
- Our cash balances will be high in the state highway fund going into session
- Traditionally, we could commit dollars ahead of time and align that with our expenditures each month
- With the addition of Prop 1 and 7, these funds are only deposited annually
- We must wait until we know how much will be available before we can commit dollars
- This results in a large balance going into session
Questions from Joint Legislative/LBB Panel
- Question – How does the Consolidated Austin Campus compare in office space to other campuses?
- It is less square footage, around 400,000 square feet
- Question – The LAR has a rider for TPFA to issue $326 million. Is that the current estimate for the consolidation project?
- Yes, that estimate will be refined through session
- Question – LAR contains an estimated amount for lease payments, what were the assumptions used to develop those dollar amounts?
- TPFA has a financial analysis tool we utilized
- Question – How many years would TxDOT be making lease payments under this model?
- 20 years
- Question – Would dollars for the maritime improvement be able to match federal dollars?
- There is a calculation for the revolving fund portion
- Question – What is the general federal range?
- It could be between 50-80%
- Question – The new ship channel fund contains $450 million to be used by each project?
- Yes