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, with heavier reliance on pay-as-you-go. Bond financing includes $200 million per year for bridges; $150 million per year for transit, aviation and rail; and bonding by the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission for transit and highways. | |
State-Level Funding Provided for DOT Budgets | FY 2011 (approved): $4.18 billion | |
Allocation of Federal Transportation Funds to the DOT | Federal transportation funds flow directly to PennDOT from the U.S. DOT. The General Assembly has statutorily authorized PennDOT to expend federal funds for highway projects so no further appropriation is needed (1970 Pa. Laws, Act 120). Federal funds for transit systems, however, are appropriated at the program or category level when not directly sent to a transit agency by the U.S. DOT. Similar to highway funds, federal aviation funds are executively authorized by the governor. | |
Allocation of State Transportation Funds to the DOT | Spending levels are generally determined by the available revenues in the various funds established for transportation. Some state transportation funds flow directly to PennDOT from the revenue source by statutory formula; others are appropriated in the annual budget bill. | |
Traditional State Funding and Finance for Highways | Fuel taxes; vehicle registration/license/title fees; tolls; interest income; general obligation bonds; revenue bonds. Revenue bonds are issued by the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission. Tolls are used by the turnpike and a few bridges connecting to New Jersey. Fuel taxes include an oil company franchise tax for maintenance and construction, which is a variable rate tax adjusted annually within a wholesale price floor of 90 cents and ceiling of $1.25 (Pa. Cons. Stat. Ann. tit. 75, §9004). | |
State Funding and Finance for Other Modes | Transit: Portion of the sales tax; payments from the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission generated by tolls and revenue bonds; transfer from the Lottery Fund; rental car excise tax; tire tax; general obligation bonds. Rail: General fund appropriations; portion of the sales tax dedicated to transit. Aviation: Restricted revenue account primarily from tax on jet fuel. Ports: General fund. Bridges: Portion of Turnpike Commission payments; restricted account for bridges using an excise tax on diesel fuel and a portion of registration fees; supplemented with the same funding as is used for highways. | |
Innovative Transportation Funding and Finance | Build America Bonds; state infrastructure bank (separate federally and state-only capitalized accounts); design-build (authorized in statute); traffic camera fees (limited program in Philadelphia only); impact fees; toll credits or "soft match." | |
Dedicated/Restricted State Funds and Revenues | The state constitution restricts use of motor fuel taxes and registration and license fees to public highways and bridges, administration thereof and public safety thereon, and prohibits diversion to other purposes. The same section restricts use of aviation fuel excise taxes to aviation purposes and prohibits diversion (Pa. Const. art. VIII, §11). State statute dedicates use of the Aviation Restricted Revenue Account to aviation purposes (Pa. Cons. Stat. Ann. tit. 71, §210). Use of the Public Transportation Trust Fund is statutorily restricted to transit purposes (Pa. Cons. Stat. Ann. tit. 74, §1506), and use of the Highway Bridge Improvement Restricted Account to bridges (Pa. Cons. Stat. Ann. tit. 75, §§9619 et seq.). | |
DOT Authorized to Retain Surplus Funds | Yes, in most cases. The general rule in the case of transportation is that unspent money is lapsed back into the dedicated transportation fund from which it came. The exception is rail freight, which is legislatively appropriated in the annual budget bill. Unspent rail freight funds lapse back into the general fund and lose the dedication for rail projects. | |
Legislative Approval Required to Move Funds Between Projects | No, but funds cannot be spent outside the appropriations or statutory revenue streams from which they were made. In addition, transit funding cannot be moved to a highway project or vice versa. | |
Transportation Funding Allocations through Local Aid | Funds to local governments are mainly distributed by statutory formula. Municipalities receive a certain amount of fuel tax receipts, a portion of the Motor License Fund and supplemental funding for municipal highway maintenance as appropriated by the General Assembly. These funds are distributed by a statutory formula based on population and road mileage (Pa. Cons. Stat. Ann. tit. 72, §2615.4; tit. 75, §8915.6; tit. 75, §9301; and tit. 75, §9511). Counties receive a certain amount of liquid fuel tax receipts based on a historic formula (Pa. Cons. Stat. Ann. tit. 75, §9010) and a portion of the Motor License Fund based on bridge deck area (Pa. Cons. Stat. Ann. tit. 75, §8915.6). A limited amount of funding to local governments is made for selected bridge projects and for transferring state-owned roads to local ownership. | |