Budget Section approves $10M-plus DOT flexible‑fund projects after debate over precedent

The Budget Section considered two Department of Transportation requests that exceeded the $10 million threshold requiring budget‑section approval and voted to approve both after extended discussion.

Ron Hanke, DOT director, summarized the Flexible Transportation (Flex/Lehi) Fund — capitalized from motor-vehicle excise tax and strategic-investment funds — and the statutory distribution percentages that allocate portions to non‑oil counties, non‑oil townships, bridges, and state-directed uses. DOT reported about $169 million currently in the fund and said it had solicited 674 applications requesting about $570 million; DOT had allocated approximately $115 million so far across 103 projects and used a multi‑stakeholder scoring panel to rank requests.

The first project, Madora City street and sidewalk reconstruction north of Pacific Avenue, has a total cost just over $15 million. Hanke said DOT is being asked to provide $10.1 million of Flex funds; the city will contribute about $1 million in cash and will have loan obligations for other pieces of the project. Several members, including Senator Beckettall and Representative Kempenick, questioned whether using Flex dollars for routine city street replacement sets a new precedent that could open the door to many similar requests; Senator Beckettall noted the project’s tourism and traffic context and urged caution.

Representative Kepnick moved approval for the Madora project; after debate the committee took a roll call and the chair announced the motion carries.

The second project was a Cass County bridge that closed in June 2024 and creates an 18‑mile detour for local traffic; the county requested $10.2 million from the Flex Fund. Representative Pyle moved to approve the Cass County bridge; after a roll call the chair announced the motion carries.

DOT told members it will move down its ranked list of projects if either request were denied, and that federal funding avenues exist for many bridge projects (with a 20% local match). Members asked DOT to provide future reports showing how application categories matched the statutory percentage allocations to inform future appropriation decisions.