Call to Order and Roll Call
The third meeting of the Budget Review Subcommittee on Transportation of the Interim Joint Committee on Appropriations and Revenue was held on Thursday, November 29, 2012, at 10:00 AM, in Room 131 of the Capitol Annex. Representative Sannie Overly, Chair, called the meeting to order, and the secretary called the roll.
Present were:
Members: Representative Sannie Overly, Co-Chair; Senator R.J. Palmer II; Representatives Hubert Collins, Tim Couch, Danny Ford, Dennis Keene, Sal Santoro, John Short, and Jim Stewart III.
Guests: Monty Boyd, Chairman, Kentuckians for Better Transportation, and Chairman and CEO, Whayne Supply Company; Dr. Joe Crabtree, Director, Kentucky Transportation Center, University of Kentucky; Stan Lampe, President, Kentuckians for Better Transportation; John Wilcoxson, Branch Manager, Pavement and Operations Branch, Division of Maintenance, Transportation Cabinet; and, Mike Hancock, Secretary, Transportation Cabinet.
LRC Staff: Chuck Truesdell, Zach Ireland, and Christina Williams.
States’ Support of Non-Highway Modes of Transportation
Monty Boyd, Chairman, Kentuckians for Better Transportation (KBT), provided a brief overview of modes of transportation. There are five modes of transportation: air, public transit, railroads, and waterways, as well as streets, roads, highways, and bridges that tie all the other modes together in a connected network. All modes of transportation require a reliable, dependable, and growing revenue stream.
Dr. Crabtree, Director, Kentucky Transportation Center (KTC), University of Kentucky, gave an overview of the KTC, which provides services through research, technology transfer, and education. The KBT sponsored a study by the KTC to investigate how other states support the four non-highway modes of transportation which include aviation, public transportation, rail, and waterways. The review and investigation included governance, ownership, and regulation; financial assistance; and technical and marketing assistance, in order to identify innovative opportunities for Kentucky. The key researchers on the project were Candice Wallace, Aviation; Ben Blandford, Public Transportation; Andrew Martin, Rail; Tim Brock, Waterways; and, Chuck Knowles and Candice Wallace, Project Coordination and Oversight.
In response to questions from Representative Collins, Ms. Wallace said there are instances where plane owners are parking their planes across state lines and buying jet fuel from other states, as well as acquiring mechanical services and those fees are going to other states. Dr. Crabtree said Kentucky receives no benefit from property tax on planes for the support of airports. He also said the cap on the jet fuel tax was to encourage large carriers to operate in Kentucky and subsequently receive tax benefits, which also results in a loss of tax revenue for the commonwealth. Representative Collins requested that jet fuel tax information on other states be provided to the committee at a later date. Mr. Lampe said Kentucky’s large airports are individually owned by county and local governments, and they receive revenues from the airport boards annually when profits are realized.
In response to a question from Representative Keene, Dr. Crabtree said some options that had been considered, such as a state infrastructure bank, would provide opportunities for financing.
In response to questions from Chair Overly, Secretary Hancock said bond funds are used to support revenue streams, such as matching federal funds. He also said even though the larger airports generate income, there is still a need for additional funds.
Pavement Condition Trends in Kentucky
John Wilcoxson, Branch Manager, Pavement and Operations Branch, Division of Maintenance, Transportation Cabinet, provided a brief presentation outlining pavement condition trends in Kentucky.
In response to a question from Representative Collins, Mr. Wilcoxson said there had been issues with center line road reflectors being damaged by snow plows. He added that there had not been road deterioration issues with center line rumble strips.
There being no further business before the subcommittee, the meeting was adjourned at 11:30 AM.