Budgeting and Appropriations | Annual budget; fiscal year begins July 1. |
Bonding or Pay-as-You-Go | Operates on a cash flow basis (combination of bonding and pay-as-you-go). Major project phases begin before the total amount is available to fund that phase. Project commitments within the work program are converted to cash flow projections over several years. |
State-Level Funding Provided for DOT Budgets | FY 2011 (approved): $3.69 billion |
Allocation of Federal Transportation Funds to the DOT | Federal transportation funds are allocated through a state legislative appropriation at the program level and through approval of the FDOT work program, which is submitted to the Legislature as part of the legislative budget request. Occasionally, a legislative proviso may direct how funding may be used. |
Allocation of State Transportation Funds to the DOT | As with federal funds, state transportation funds also are allocated through appropriation at the program level and approval of the FDOT work program. |
Traditional State Funding and Finance for Highways | Fuel taxes (indexed to Consumer Price Index; see Fla. Stat. Ann. §206.41); motor vehicle/rental car sales taxes; vehicle registration/license/title fees; tolls; interest income; a portion of documentary stamp revenue; revenue bonds. |
State Funding and Finance for Other Modes | All modes-including transit, aviation, rail, ports and bridges-are funded by revenue sources that flow into the State Transportation Trust Fund and receive allocations based on statutory guidance (Fla. Stat. Ann. §339.08, §§332.003 et seq., §311.07(2), §320.20 and §206.46(2)). A minimum of 15 percent of fund revenues must be used for transit (Fla. Stat. Ann. §206.46). Starting in FY 2014-2015, $60 million of documentary stamp proceeds are to be allocated to the Florida Rail Enterprise (Fla. Stat. Ann. §201.15(l)(c)(l)(d)). |
Innovative Transportation Funding and Finance | GARVEE bonds (authorized but not used as of 2009); Build America Bonds; federal credit assistance (TIFIA); state infrastructure bank (separate federally and state-only capitalized accounts); congestion pricing; PPPs (authorized in statute with legislative approval requirements, used for at least seven projects); design-build (authorized in statute, used as a component of at least 14 projects); traffic camera fees; impact fees; advance construction; toll credits or "soft match." |
Dedicated/Restricted State Funds and Revenues | State Transportation Trust Fund money can be used only for certain purposes, including FDOT administration, highway construction and maintenance, public transit and grants to local governments (Fla. Stat. Ann. §339.08). This statute also allows a transfer from the trust fund to the general fund for FY 2010 - 2011 only. Toll revenues may be used only for turnpike projects. |
DOT Authorized to Retain Surplus Funds | No. The Legislative Budget Committee must approve carrying forward any work program budget authority not yet committed. The transportation work program is required by law to deplete available revenues, and operating cash reverts to the fund from which it was appropriated. |
Legislative Approval Required to Move Funds Between Projects | Yes. FDOT must submit any work program amendments to affected counties, the governor and the Legislature. The governor may not approve the amendment until 14 days after legislative notification. The amendment is approved after the 14-day period if there is no legislative objection. |
Transportation Funding Allocations through Local Aid | The state allocates funds to local governmental entities through state legislative appropriations; FDOT allocation of funds by formula; FDOT allocation of funds within existing statutory requirements; and FDOT discretionary allocation of funds. Florida levies state taxes specifically for local use. These include the constitutional fuel tax, the county fuel tax and the municipal fuel tax. The constitutional fuel tax is distributed to counties by a formula based on area, population and constitutional fuel tax collections (Fla. Const, art. XII, §9(c); Fla. Stat. Ann. §206.47). The county fuel tax is distributed by the same formula as the constitutional fuel tax (Fla. Stat. Ann. §206.60). Allowable uses of the municipal fuel tax are described in statute (Fla. Stat. Ann. §206.605). FDOT also provides funding to local entities through various grant programs, including the Small County Road Assistance Program (Fla. Stat. Ann. §339.2816), the County Incentive Grant Program (Fla. Stat. Ann. §339.2817), the Small County Outreach Program (Fla. Stat. Ann. §339.2818) and the Enhanced Bridge Program for Sustainable Transportation (Fla. Stat. Ann. 339.285). FDOT is decentralized into seven districts; these districts also receive discretionary funding through the Transportation Regional Incentive Program (Fla. Stat. Ann. §339.2819). |