ATLANTA — Georgia’s transportation budget is up a little this year, thanks to an uptick in tax receipts. But analysts say there’s a bigger problem: more projects than money, and a good bit of debt.
“We consistently have the best maintained roads in the country. We consistently do things on a shoestring budget,” Keith Golden, commissioner of the Georgia Department of Transportation, told legislators at a hearing at the state Capitol recently.
“Transportation is the driving force behind the strong economy. We’ve got to make investments in transportation if we want to continue to grow jobs in Georgia,” Golden said.
“Our per-capita invest in transportation is low,” he said. “We (have) one of the lowest gasoline taxes in the country” at roughly 19.3 cents per gallon. Of that, 16.3 cents, worth roughly $800 million annually in the past few years, goes to GDOT.
Much of the rest of its roughly $2 billion budget comes from Washington, D.C., for the year that ends this July. Debt service totals $401 million.
via Renewed hunt on for state road money | State Legislature | Macon.com.
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