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Board reviews proposed ITD Fy11 budget

The Idaho Transportation Board observed a moment of silence during its business meeting in Rigby last week, in remembrance of board member Bruce Sweeney who passed away Aug. 18 following a battle with bone cancer.

Board members unanimously chose Neil Miller of Blackfoot (District 5), the board’s senior member, to fill the remainder of the year as vice-chairman.

Miller’s first board appointment came when the board was expanded from three members to seven in 1995. He was re-appointed to represent District 5 in 1999 and again in 2005. His current term will expire in 2011.

Other board action

Since the June workshop, ITD staff members have been refining the FY11 draft budget request in accordance with instructions from the Division of Financial Management. Very few changes were made to the final budget draft that was presented to the board, and approved, at its Aug. 20 meeting in Rigby. The budget now goes to the Division of Financial Management and Legislative Services Office.

The projected revenue to ITD from all funding sources in FY11 is $568,700,000. No change to the current 1,833.5 full-time positions is being requested. Other budget highlights include a $900,000, or 1 percent, increase for change in employee compensation; a $1.9 million increase for employee benefits; $22.2 million for equipment replacement; and $291.3 million for construction.

The request also includes nine line items totaling $5.7 million – the Headquarters phone system, the DMV information technology modernization, a North American Trailer Plate Advertising Campaign, and airport planning documents. The proposed list of GARVEE projects for bonding authority in FY11 is being developed and will be added to the budget request later.

Six-Year Capital Facilities Program
The overall goal of the building program is sustain and maintain a plan that extends the useful life of ITD’s buildings. The program allocations for alterations, repairs and statewide preventive maintenance allow the districts to modernize higher maintenance or inefficient facility components or make safety improvements.

While sand sheds continue to be a priority in the program, environmental regulations for wastewater disposal from winter truck washing has become a concern. The need for covered truck washing facilities has increased and such projects have been added to the FY11-16 Capital Facilities Program, including a $220,000 facility in Coeur d’Alene in FY11. Other notable projects in FY11 are an addition to and remodel of the Lewiston Office and a welding shop addition in Shoshone.

Updated Highway Information Web Site
A demonstration was given on the department’s updated Web page that will provide enhanced highway information. Detailed information on segments of highways will now be easily available to the public. Some of this data includes the cracking index, bridges, guardrail, the average daily traffic counts and crashes.

This project collects statistics from a number of sources and makes them available in one Web location. It is part of ITD’s commitment to be transparent, share information, increase efficiencies and reduce costs.