Budgeting and Appropriations | Biennial enactment of two 12-month budgets; fiscal year begins July 1. WisDOT submits biennial budget requests for approval by the Legislature. | |
Bonding or Pay-as-You-Go | Combination of bonding and pay-as-you-go financing. Bonds are used for state highways, passenger and freight rail, and harbor improvements. | |
State-Level Funding Provided for DOT Budgets | FY 2011 (approved): $2.1 billion FY 2010: $1.8 billion FY 2009: $1.8 billion FY 2008: $1.6 billion | |
Allocation of Federal Transportation Funds to the DOT | Federal airport, transit and traffic safety funds are allocated by a state legislative appropriation at the program level, but with little legislative input. Federal highway funds are allocated among several programs by legislative appropriation, based on an estimate of the total amount that will be received. If the amount received differs from the estimates by more than 5 percent, WisDOT must submit a plan to the Legislature's Joint Committee on Finance to adjust the appropriations accordingly; the committee may approve or modify the plan. WisDOT makes administrative adjustments for any difference under the 5 percent threshold. | |
Allocation of State Transportation Funds to the DOT | State transportation funds are allocated to WisDOT through a state legislative appropriation at the program or category level. WisDOT generally has spending discretion within broad categories (state highway rehabilitation, major highway development, airport improvement, etc.), each of which has its own appropriation. With a few minor exceptions, there are no automatic or formula-based appropriations of state funds to transportation programs. | |
Traditional State Funding and Finance for Highways | Fuel taxes; vehicle registration/license/title fees; truck weight fees; interest income; general obligation bonds; revenue bonds. Because Wisconsin uses a comprehensive, multimodal transportation fund, highways also are funded by other sources including railroad and airline taxes. As of April 2011, the transportation fund was receiving a few specific, limited annual transfers from the general fund. As a rule, however, state general funds have not been used for transportation purposes in recent years. | |
State Funding and Finance for Other Modes | Wisconsin uses a comprehensive, multimodal transportation fund, so all modes are funded by traditional road user fees and taxes as well as other sources of income such as railroad and airline taxes. | |
Innovative Transportation Funding and Finance | Build America Bonds; state infrastructure bank (federally capitalized); PPPs (authorized in statute); design-build (authorized in statute for bridge projects); advance construction. The state infrastructure bank as well as PPP and design-build authorizations are quite limited and have not been widely used. | |
Dedicated/Restricted State Funds and Revenues | Fuel tax and other transportation-related revenues are deposited into a comprehensive, multimodal trust fund, the Transportation Fund. Use of the fund is restricted by statute to certain transportation purposes such as highways, airports, harbors, ferries, railroads, and bicycle or pedestrian facilities; this law also prohibits money deposited to the fund from being transferred to other funds or accounts (Wis. Stat. Ann. §25.40). This, however, has not prevented the state from adopting budget management measures over the past several years that use transportation revenues to support the general fund. Transfers to the general fund have been partially, but not entirely, repaid with use of general fund-supported bonds. In the fall of 2010, voters in 54 Wisconsin counties approved county-level referenda advising the Legislature to amend the state constitution so as to prohibit any further transfers or lapses from the segregated transportation fund; voters approved the measure in all counties that qualified it. These referenda, however, are not binding. | |
DOT Authorized to Retain Surplus Funds | Within most capital improvement and maintenance programs, WisDOT retains appropriated but unobligated funds from year to year. Excess fund revenues are not available for expenditure, however, unless appropriated by the Legislature. For administrative functions, unspent funds lapse to the transportation fund at the end of the fiscal year. | |
Legislative Approval Required to Move Funds Between Projects | Yes and no. WisDOT cannot move funds between broad appropriation categories without legislative approval. Within those categories, however, WisDOT has discretion to move funds between projects. | |
Transportation Funding Allocations through Local Aid | The state has several local aid programs, some of which use statutory formulas, some of which use WisDOT formulas, and some of which are discretionary. Most local aid programs for roads, bridges and transit are distributed through statutory formulas (Wis. Stat. Ann. §85.20, §86.30 and §86.31). Federal highway aid is distributed to local governments using formulas developed by WisDOT. Smaller amounts are distributed to certain projects (airports, transportation enhancements, etc.) on a discretionary basis. Although the state does not use the general fund for transportation as a rule, significant general aid is provided to local governments from the general fund and likely has the effect of supporting local transportation expenditures. | |