Thursday, March 6, 2008

Mich. in jeopardy of losing out on federal highway dollars

Christine Rook
Lansing State Journal

DELTA TWP. - Some legislators and county officials fear the state is in jeopardy of losing federal highway money next year.

“It’s got to be a serious concern,” state Rep. Tom Casperson, R-Escanaba, said between conference sessions at the County Road Association of Michigan’s annual highway conference in Delta Township.

Casperson serves on the state House Transportation Committee. Attendees made comments this morning concerning the state’s ability to make use of federal money in the new fiscal year, beginning in October.

Michigan Department of Transportation officials were not immediately available for comment.

The federal government is projected to send $1.3 billion to Michigan next year. But some are concerned about whether the state has sufficient money to match some of that funding.

Casperson said he is concerned about the state’s ability to match all of its projected federal dollars next year in part because of what the state expects to spend on transportation is relatively flat when compared with current spending.

“We’re kind of going in a backward trend,” he said. [more here]

Also posted on Michigan Redneck II.

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