Director says bond program needs revenue

By Tim Talley

Published: May 2, 2008

The head of the state Transportation Department called on lawmakers Friday to set aside a dedicated revenue source to pay off any road and bridge bonds that may be included in a larger bond package lawmakers are considering.

Gary Ridley, director of the Oklahoma Department of Transportation, said all revenue appropriated to his agency by the Legislature is dedicated to the state's eight-year construction program and road and bridge maintenance and that there is no surplus he can tap to pay off bonds.

"If we're going to have a transportation bond issuance, the debt service has to be a dedicated resource of funding outside the funding we normally get," Ridley said.

Oklahoma lawmakers are considering a multimillion dollar bond package to raise money for road and bridge improvements and other capital needs not funded in a $7.1 billion general appropriations bill that keeps most agencies at last year's funding level.

But legislative leaders said they first need to find a way to pay off a bond package. Officials have said lawmakers should move cautiously in a tight budget year before issuing bonds the state will have to start repaying next year.

Ridley said his agency is still paying for hundreds-of-millions of dollars worth of road and bridge bonds issued a decade ago. As recently as 2005, the agency had to dip into its road and bridge maintenance budget to retire some bonds. The debt payment this year will total $31 million, Ridley said.

"We feel like we can't handle any more bond payments," he said. "We do not have revenue to be able to promote an additional bond package."

A wish list of capital improvement projects that focuses on roads and bridges has been assembled by Rep. Guy Liebmann, R-Oklahoma City, chairman of the House General Government and Transportation Committee.

Sen. Johnnie Crutchfield, co-chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, has suggested that lawmakers issue up to $500 million in bonds for road and bridge improvements — more than twice as much as the $227.5 million proposed in the House package.

Crutchfield said most of the bond money should be used to repair state-maintained roads and bridges but that at least $100 million should be dedicated to county roads and bridges.

Ridley said he has had no formal talks with legislative leaders concerning a transportation bond issue. House and Senate leaders have said the bond proposal is preliminary and that details, including what projects will be included in the package, must be worked out before lawmakers adjourn later this month.

Oklahoma transportation commissioners have warned that millions of dollars in road and bridge repair projects will be abandoned unless more tax dollars are dedicated to transportation needs.

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