SALEM, Ore. — The Oregon Department of Transportation will receive a $19 million bailout from the Oregon Legislature in order to fund winter maintenance that the agency previously warned it would need to scale back due to sagging revenues, Gov. Tina Kotek's office announced Monday.
ODOT began getting the word out in October that it would not have the funds to keep roads up to the standards of prior years, pointing to a decline in fuel tax revenue. While it's not entirely true that fuel tax revenues have declined as of yet — they continued a year-over-year increase into 2023 — those gains have needed to compete with a dramatic spike in inflation and face an ongoing paradigm shift due to increased vehicle fuel economy and electrification.
Kotek floated the idea of emergency funding for ODOT during a press briefing last week. In a statement from her office Monday, Oregon Senate President Rob Wagner and House Speaker Dan Rayfield signaled that they were on board with the $19 million commitment, which will likely come from Oregon's General Fund.
“Whether it's July or January, Oregonians need to be able to travel safely on our highways,” President Wagner (D-Lake Oswego) said. “This commitment from myself and Speaker Rayfield — in coordination with our budget co-chairs — guarantees critical funding to keep Oregonians safe throughout the year.”
A letter from Wagner and Rayfield to Kotek makes clear that the funding will not actually be committed until next year's short legislative session, meaning ODOT hasn't received anything just yet, and won't until February at the earliest. Regardless, the agency is able to spend more now in anticipation of that funding.
"Our understanding is that the agency has enough resources at this time to pay for its critical work ahead of the 2024 Session," the lawmakers wrote in their letter to Kotek.
According to the Kotek's office, $8 million of the total will go directly toward winter maintenance efforts for the entire 2023-25 biennium, including the purchase of things like de-icer and salt, and a removal of overtime restrictions.
Another $7 million to go toward safety-focused improvements to highways in the state; including $4.5 million to patch pavement and fix potholes, particularly after the cycle of freezing and thawing over the winter; and $2.5 million to retrace edge lines on low-volume highways beginning in spring 2024. Kotek's office said that ODOT had previously paused retracing this year.
Finally, $4 million will fund the replacement of 10 trucks primarily used for snow plowing, Kotek's office said. ODOT has about 400 of these trucks, but many are beyond their service life — resulting in higher repair cost and reduced reliability during the winter. Because it takes to long to order these trucks, the governor's office said they'll arrived in time for next winter, not the current one.
Kotek's office clarified that the funding will only be used for winter maintenance operations, so it will not necessarily do anything for ODOT's ability to remove graffiti along state rights-of-way around Portland, another area where it has identified shortfalls.