IV. FISCAL CONSTRAINTS ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE TRANSPORTATION IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM
Project Funding Overview
The funding of transportation system improvements depends on the availability of funds, on criteria established by State and Federal laws, and policies established by the local governments on the use of funds. Street and highway projects can be financed entirely by State and/or local funds or by any combination of federal, state and local funds. The Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) provides federal-aid to state and local units of government for surface transportation projects.
The use of FTA funds are allocated to transit operators by formulas through the FTA Region 7
Office in Kansas City and through the KDOT Public Transportation Programs Office in Topeka.
Those funds are utilized for the operations of the City of Lawrence Public Transit System
commonly referred to as The T and various paratransit operations in the region. For urban
public transit operators like the T the federal funding flows from the FTA Region Office directly
to the operators and for the small paratransit operators the federal funding flows through
KDOT to local agencies. State transit funds from the new T-Works Program flows through
KDOT to both urban transit and paratransit providers. Local sources of funding for transit
projects are provided through a variety of sources including local government general funds,
general obligation bonds, local sales taxes, agency contributions, farebox revenues, and other
sources of funds available to local governments and agencies providing transit services.
The use of FHWA funds and state highway and bridge funding supplied through the new TWorks Program are all administered by KDOT. Those federal funds come in various forms from
several different FHWA programs (e.g., Surface Transportation Program, Bridge Rehabilitation
& Replacement, Transportation Enhancement), but all of this federal money flows through
KDOT to local governments.
Funding for Locally Sponsored Projects
In November 2008 Lawrence voters approved three increases in sales taxes to support the improvement of roads and transit services in the city. A 0.3% increase was dedicated to roads and infrastructure, a 0.2% increase was dedicated to funding transit service, and a 0.05% increase was dedicated to expanding transit services in Lawrence. For 2010 these new taxes were projected to produce approximately $3.9 million, $2.6 million, and $.7 million dollars of additional revenue for the city. Actual revenues from these sources for 2010 were $ 3.9 million, $ 2.6 million, and $ .6 million. With the recently slowed economy in Lawrence it is uncertain if the original estimates for these revenues will ring true for the 2012-2015 period covered by this TIP, but even if these new taxes don’t produce quite as much funding as projected they are still a welcomed change for transportation financing in Lawrence. All three of these new taxes are set to expire in ten years. With the addition of these taxes the City of Lawrence has a local dedicated funding source for road and transit improvements that should make funding for those projects more predictable and lessen pressure on other city funds to pay for road work and transit operations. With the passage of these new sales taxes the city is now designing and programming some large road projects that were not financially feasible in the recent past. Some projects are now funded with this new sales tax revenue and some are still funded with a combination of federal aid and local matching funds. Page 10 of 57
