Budgeting and Appropriations | Annual budget; fiscal year begins July 1. |
Bonding or Pay-as-You-Go | Combination of bonding and pay-as-you-go financing. |
State-Level Funding Provided for DOT Budgets | FY 2011 (approved): $746.6 million |
Allocation of Federal Transportation Funds to the DOT | Federal transportation funds are allocated through legislative appropriation. Each year, after the Legislature approves the Highway Priority Program, the program is appropriated within the state's capital outlay bill (House Bill 2). Appropriations are made within the categories of Preservation, Operations, Safety and Capacity. Some project-specific appropriations also are made. |
Allocation of State Transportation Funds to the DOT | State transportation funds also are allocated through legislative appropriation following approval of the Highway Priority Program. |
Traditional State Funding and Finance for Highways | Fuel taxes; vehicle registration/license/title fees; truck weight fees; tolls; general funds; interest income; overweight permits and enforcement fees; general obligation bonds; revenue bonds. |
State Funding and Finance for Other Modes | Transit, rail, aviation, ports and bridges: Funded by the same sources as highways through the Transportation Trust Fund. |
Innovative Transportation Funding and Finance | Build America Bonds; federal credit assistance (TIFIA); PPPs (authorized in statute); design-build (authorized in statute, used for the Audubon Bridge); traffic camera fees; creation of nonprofit, quasi-public entities; tapered matching; advance construction; toll credits or "soft match." |
Dedicated/Restricted State Funds and Revenues | The state's multimodal Transportation Trust Fund is established and its uses outlined in the state constitution (La. Const. art. VII, §27). The fund receives revenues from taxes on motor fuels, special fuels and aviation fuel, and must be used exclusively for highway construction and maintenance, the highway priority program, statewide flood control, ports and airports priority programs, transit, state policy traffic control, the Parish Transportation Fund and debt service. Funds must be appropriated annually. No more than 20 percent annually of the state-generated tax revenues in the Trust Fund can be used for ports, the Parish Transportation Fund, statewide flood control and state police for traffic control. The Parish Transportation Fund, however, must receive annually at least the proceeds of 1 cent of the state tax on gasoline and special fuels. The annual appropriation for airports must equal the annual estimated revenue from state taxes on aviation fuel. |
DOT Authorized to Retain Surplus Funds | Yes. Unencumbered and unexpended balances at the end of each fiscal year remain in the trust fund (La. Const. art. VII, §27). |
Legislative Approval Required to Move Funds Between Projects | Yes, but only for projects funded by a project-specific, line-item appropriation. Otherwise, the DOTD is required only to fund those projects that are consistent with the legislatively approved construction program. |
Transportation Funding Allocations through Local Aid | The Parish Transportation Fund was established in 1990 for local transportation needs (La. Rev. Stat. Ann. §48:751 to 756) and is funded from the State Transportation Trust Fund. The Parish Transportation Fund must receive annually at least the proceeds of 1 cent of the state tax on gasoline and special fuels. Funds are distributed to parishes on a per capita basis in population categories. Funding in excess of the FY 1994-1995 level of $34 million is distributed on a per-mile basis. |