Declining gas tax revenues impact ODOT's winter road maintenance budget

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – State officials have said it once, and they’ll say it again: Declining gas tax revenues are hurting the Oregon Department of Transportation’s budget.

Oregon's gas tax is where most of the state's transportation money comes from to pay for new projects and keep up old ones. In October, the agency announced that winter maintenance would be limited due to decreasing revenues.

“We're forced to pull back on that because of flattening and declining fuel tax revenues,” ODOT spokesman Kevin Glenn said.

In 2019, the department received $625 million from the gas tax. It dipped in 2020, and was forecasted to decline in 2022, but has since recovered. It is projected to increase again in 2024 when a 2-cent per gallon tax will be implemented on Jan 1.

The agency forecasts those revenues to decline in 2025, but given their previous projections, nothing is certain.

A 2017 bill that addressed transportation put limits on the agency's maintenance budget. Of the $670 million this year, the agency is limited by law to spend 3% on maintenance. According to Glenn, that leaves ODOT with $5 million less to spend than in 2015.

“We are at the point where declining tax revenues are declining fuel tax revenues in the forecast are having a real impact on our ability to make financial decisions today,” Glenn said.

That money digs into the total $370 million budget for maintenance like plowing and treating roads in a snowstorm.

“Of the funding that's left, that actually is declining every year,” Glenn said. “And we're facing that decline at the same time that we face ever-increasing costs for actually providing these services.”

Gov. Tina Kotek announced Tuesday that she will ask lawmakers for an additional $19 million to fund winter maintenance. The money requested needs to be approved by lawmakers, but ODOT says they are confident they will get that money.