Annual Report 2010.pdf - Mississippi Department of Transportation

Revenue, Expenditures, and Finance
Revenue Sources
MDOT is funded through appropriations by the U.S. Congress and the Mississippi
Legislature. Congress provides funding through the Federal Highway
Administration (FHWA), the Federal Transit Administration (FTA), the Federal
Railroad Administration, and the Federal Aviation Administration. For FY 2010,
MDOT received $643.2 million in federal funds.
State Revenue Sources
The Mississippi Legislature provides state funding through motor fuel taxes and
other fees. Mississippi has a fuel tax of 18.4 cents per gallon. Under the Mississippi
statutes, MDOT receives approximately 70 percent of total fuel taxes.
MDOT received 73 percent of that amount in FY 2010: $276 million. The statutes
allocate millions of dollars to non-road construction entities such as Wildlife
and Fisheries and Marine Resources. By statute, the remainder goes to cities
and counties for road projects and the State Aid Road fund for county bridge
replacements.
MDOT is also funded through receipts derived from other dedicated state
taxes such as truck and bus fees, which include the truck and bus privilege tax,
weight and size permits, and trip permits; a contractor’s tax of 3.5 percent assessed
on certain highway construction contracts; a $5 per vehicle tag registration
fee; a lubricating oil tax; and interest income.
Federal Revenue Sources
Federal highway construction assistance is paid to all states through the Federal-Aid
Highway Program. Funding is derived from revenues collected by the U.S.
Treasury from certain federal taxes on fuel, tire sales, and other items, which are
deposited into the Federal Highway Trust Fund.
Distribution of assistance from the Federal Highway Trust Fund is subject to
periodic authorization and annual appropriation by Congress. Since such assistance
was established by the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956, the program
has been reauthorized many times in various forms at generally increasing
funding levels. Actual payments to states have continued without interruption
since 1956. Certain Federal-Aid Highway Program features are explained below:
• The Federal Highway Trust Fund: The Federal Highway Trust Fund is a
dedicated federal fund with revenues held in trust for reimbursement of
expenditures by the states for costs of eligible transportation projects,
including highway projects.
• Apportionment: For each federal fiscal year, the FHWA apportions the authorized
funding among the states according to formulas that are established
in authorizing statutes. The distribution of federal funds that do not
have a statutory formula is called “allocation” rather than “apportionment.”
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