Speaker offers plan to head off future infrastructure failures
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By Peter Hirschfeld VERMONT PRESS BUREAU - Published: January 14, 2010
MONTPELIER – As Vermont suffers the costly consequences of a high-profile bridge failure over Lake Champlain, House Speaker Shap Smith says he'll propose a new bonding plan aimed at preventing similar debacles in the future.
"When you look at what happened to the Crown Point Bridge … it is clear we are at a critical time with regard to our transportation infrastructure, and particularly with our bridges," Smith said. "We're going to be spending more on bridges if we wait until they fall into the water to address these problems."
The closure and subsequent demolition of the Lake Champlain Bridge has cast a spotlight this session on the condition of some 433 structurally deficient bridges in Vermont. Even with transportation spending at the highest levels Vermont has ever seen, Smith said, the state doesn't have adequate funds to begin addressing the backlog of problem bridges in the state.
"While we may be spending more, it's still not enough," he said.
Smith said he'd like to use the bonding authority as early as the fiscal year 2011 budget, though he said he's willing to consider waiting until 2012.
Though transportation officials in the Douglas administration say transportation infrastructure, and bridges in particular, are among the governor's chief priorities, it could be unwise to deplete one-time bonding authority with so much fiscal uncertainty on the horizon, they said.
The U.S. House and Senate are now considering a second stimulus package that could see new federal dollars flow into the state. Congress is also set to work on a new transportation spending bill that could also bolster federal assistance to Vermont. That new federal money, however, could require a commensurate surge in state matching funds. And with state revenue sources struggling to keep pace, Dill said, Vermont might need that bonding authority to ensure no federal money is left on the table.
"Rather than go into a big bonding package right now, we'd like to have that bonding authority available to make sure we can leverage all the federal money that may become available," Dill said.
Smith said he worries that if Vermont waits too long to bond, the new gasoline and diesel tax revenue will be absorbed into the Agency of Transportation's operating budget. The fuel tax increases approved last year created a so-called Transportation Infrastructure Bond fund, through which legislators could use the approximately $17 million in additional annual revenue to support new infrastructure bonds.
"My real worry is that if we wait, that money will get spoken for," Smith said. "We promised Vermonters we would use that money for infrastructure, and I worry it's going to end up going to operating expenses."
Dill said he's open to using some bonding in fiscal year 2011, but that he wants that bonding authority to be available at the agency's discretion.
Gov. James Douglas won't unveil his fiscal year 2011 spending plan until Tuesday, but Dill said next year's transportation budget will be on par with the approximately $550 million Vermont will spend in 2010. That budget included a heavy infusion of federal stimulus money that bolstered year-over-year transportation spending levels by 35 percent.
Dill said the FY2011 budget, assisted by remaining stimulus money, will include major funding for bridges.
"In the FY2010 budget, you saw more dramatic spending increases in pavement and bridges because of stimulus funds," Dill said. "And that priority on pavement and bridges will definitely continue in the FY2011 budget."
Legislative committees on transportation will get a briefing on the state's transportation bonding potential later this week from State Treasurer Jeb Spaulding. Rep. Pat Brennan, a Colchester Republican and chairman of the House Committee on Transportation, said he hopes to be able to use a major bonding package as part of the 2011 budget. He said his committee will study the issue before drafting a final proposal.
peter.hirschfeld@rutlandherald.com
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