Lawmakers move to support Wyoming highways with extra funds

CHEYENNE — The Wyoming Legislature’s Joint Transportation, Highways and Military Affairs Committee sponsored two draft bills and a potential efficiency study Friday, with hopes of diverting additional money and using it more efficiently on the state’s highways.

The committee voted 13-1 to sponsor the draft bill titled “Severance tax distribution-highway fund,” with opposition from Sen. John Kolb, R-Rock Springs, and unanimously in support of another titled “Vehicle sales tax distribution-highway fund.”

The purpose of both bills is to divert tax funds from the general fund to the highway fund in order to address safety and return to a period of growth, as opposed to continuing a period of maintenance, according to committee discussion.

“Growth is no longer happening, and we’re in maintenance mode,” Sen. Stephan Pappas, R-Cheyenne, said. “We’ve been in maintenance mode for a long time, and frankly, we can’t continue to stay in that mode. Maybe back in 2012 we were spending more money, but we were growing. We’re not doing that now; in fact, it’s the opposite — our roads are deteriorating.”

In 2012, the Wyoming Department of Transportation budget request was $270 million; for 2024, the request was $250 million. 

WYDOT Chief Financial Officer Dennis Byrne explained that the gap between these two budgets was likely due to legislative changes over the past 10 years.

“Significant decreases in general fund dollars, significant increases in inflation, as has already been stated,” Byrne said. “...We are starting to see a little bit more money on the revenue side, specifically from the [federal government]. However, it’s not enough to address the needs that we have, so that full circle brings us back to the need for more revenue.”

The committee discussed why WYDOT’s needs have changed through the years, looking specifically at how to ensure that the high volume of funds spent isn’t being wasted. Pappas brought up that the committee has been considering several new funding options for years, to no avail.

According to Pappas, road usage charges and tolling have been considered, yet nothing has happened to create additional revenue for roads, highways and bridges.

“Frankly, our roads and bridges and the entire surface transportation system in Wyoming is vital,” he said. “It’s very critical to our number one industry — tourism — right? Our oil and gas folks need it, our construction industry needs it. We need our roads, and we’ve got to find a way to be able to reverse the trend and not just be in maintenance mode, but also in growth mode.”

Should both bills pass during the 2025 general session, they would divert tax funds from the general fund to the highway fund.

If passed, the draft bill “Severance tax distribution-highway fund” would change the distribution of severance tax to the highway fund. For fiscal year 2026 and thereafter, funds would be deposited to the highway fund.

If the amended draft bill is passed, the act would be effective July 1, 2025.

“Vehicle sales tax distribution/highway fund” would amend the distribution of sales and use taxes on motor vehicles and trailers and send it to the highway fund.

This would not increase the tax on these vehicles; it would simply change where taxpayer dollars are allocated.

“Our position on it is if you’re going to buy a vehicle, you’re probably going to use it on a road. Therefore, some of those taxes should come to help maintain and work the roads,” WYDOT Director Darin Westby said Friday.

If the amended bill passes, it would go into effect on July 1, 2025, and would apply to sales and use taxes on sales of motor vehicles and trailers other than agricultural vehicles. 

“This isn’t really changing any of the places where you would otherwise be exempted from paying a tax now on these types of motor vehicles. It’s really simply just basically changing where those distributions for these specific sales tax would go,” WYDOT Deputy Director Taylor Rossetti said Friday. “Instead of going to the general fund, they would come to the highway fund.”

Contingent on the success of these bills, the committee also discussed using some of the money from the highway fund for an WYDOT efficiency study in an amount not to exceed $750,000, an increase from the original $250,000 proposed.

Concerns about the limited budget and short timeline originally proposed for the study were brought up by Westby, which led to an amended budget and timeline for the draft bill.

“Regardless of what we do, we want to do it right. We want to make sure it’s something that we can all be proud of and use going into the future,” Westby said.

The draft bill, which is contingent on funding from the previous two bills, stipulates that the study be performed by an independent third party.

The bill was amended by unanimous vote so that the study would be completed by July 1, 2026, with no preliminary report. It was also unanimously amended to require the contractor to send out an anonymous survey to WYDOT employees for efficiency suggestions. 

The amended bill passed unanimously.