Budgeting and Appropriations | Annual budget for most state agencies (including KDOT); fiscal year begins July 1. The governor submits a budget for KDOT, but most funding comes from sources dedicated to KDOT and is appropriated without limit. |
Bonding or Pay-as-You-Go | Combination of bonding and pay-as-you-go financing. KDOT is statutorily limited in the amount of debt service it may incur, and the state constitution (Kan. Const. art. XI, §9) prohibits the use of general obligation bonds for highways. |
State-Level Funding Provided for DOT Budgets | FY 2011 (approved): $863.2 million |
Allocation of Federal Transportation Funds to the DOT | Federal transportation funds flow directly to KDOT from the U.S. DOT without state legislative involvement. |
Allocation of State Transportation Funds to the DOT | The Legislature enacts multi-year transportation plans-the most recent in 2010-that direct KDOT priorities. State transportation funds for capital improvements and preservation projects mainly come from the State Highway Fund, which is legislatively appropriated to KDOT with no limit on expenditure authority. Operating expenditures are provided with limits through a legislative appropriation at the program or category level. Generally, only overhead expenditures and building expenditures have specific legislative oversight. |
Traditional State Funding and Finance for Highways | Fuel taxes; vehicle registration/license/title fees; truck weight fees; portion of sales tax and compensating use tax. |
State Funding and Finance for Other Modes | Transit, rail, aviation and bridges: Funded by the same sources as highways through the State Highway Fund. |
Innovative Transportation Funding and Finance | Build America Bonds; state infrastructure bank (state-only capitalized); design-build (authorized in statute for one demonstration project only); tapered matching. Special taxing districts may be used to generate funds to repay bonds for infrastructure improvements, including road and bridge projects. |
Dedicated/Restricted State Funds and Revenues | The state constitution gives the state the power to levy special taxes on motor vehicles and motor fuels for road and highway purposes (Kan. Const. art. XI, §10; see also Kan. Stat. Ann. §79-3402). The State Highway Fund is statutorily dedicated to certain transportation purposes (Kan. Stat. Ann. §68-416 and §68-23l4b), including a small amount for transit, rail and general aviation (Kan. Stat. Ann. §75-5035, §75-5048 and §75-5061). |
DOT Authorized to Retain Surplus Funds | Yes. Excess funds remain within the State Highway Fund. Projects tend to exceed available funding, so most funds will be programmed or encumbered. If a significant balance were to remain within the fund, the Legislature might choose to redirect the portion of the sales tax and compensating use tax revenues that the State Highway Fund currently receives. |
Legislative Approval Required to Move Funds Between Projects | Generally, no. KDOT, however, cannot use the funds statutorily dedicated to transit, rail and general aviation airports for other than those purposes. |
Transportation Funding Allocations through Local Aid | All motor carrier property taxes and 33.63 percent of fuel taxes go into the Special City and County Highway Fund, which is distributed to cities and counties by statutory formulas based on number of registered vehicles, vehicle miles traveled, road mileage and, for cities only, population (Kan. Stat. Ann. §§79-3425 et seq. and §79-34,142). At least 25 percent of the funds received by a county must be used for mail and school bus routes on county roads. |