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Figure 15.1.1 - Region Budget Approval and Request Timeline
How the Regions Determine their Funding Needs
How the Regions Determine their Funding Needs
Station Budgets
Station Budgets
Every spring, the regions are asked to begin compiling their requests for funding from Central Maintenance. This typically starts with each maintenance station reviewing their past expenses on maintenance activities and forecasting the cost of future maintenance needs. The maintenance station takes into account the current condition of assets within their station boundaries as well as any impacts of future construction projects.
Example
Example
A construction project scheduled to rehabilitate a portion of a state route is currently requiring additional attention from maintenance
The maintenance station also has to account for additional equipment, roadway assets added, full time employees (FTE’s), and/or lane miles that have been added to their station boundaries.
In some cases the regions can modify or adjust maintenance station boundaries based on various factors: added highway miles, jurisdictional transfer with local agencies, increased growth in population, etc. These changes usually occur to maintain the level of service as described in the Maintenance Asset and Activity Handbook and these changes need to be accounted for in the stations budget request.
Factors that Influence Maintenance Station Budgets
Factors that Influence Maintenance Station Budgets
Historical Expenses
Historical Expenses
The amount the maintenance station typically spent maintaining a particular asset or performing a certain work activity
Asset Condition
Asset Condition
The current condition of an asset(s) and whether certain assets in need of major milestone replacement, repairs, or preservation work
The change of the acceptable condition of an asset
Example
Example
A segment of highway that now needs to be repainted twice a year rather than once a year
Additions or Subtraction of Lane Miles
Additions or Subtraction of Lane Miles
The addition or removal of lane miles from the maintenance station
The adjustment of station boundaries to include more or less lane miles/assets
Changes to Operations or Level of Service Requirements
Changes to Operations or Level of Service Requirements
Any change to the operations of the maintenance station due to construction
Any change in Level of Service Requirements based on changes to roadway characteristics / regional significance
Equipment
Equipment
New equipment can impact a station's budget in a negative and positive manner and needs to be taken into account as the budget request is prepared.
The equipment usage from previous years (along with anticipated projects that may take additional equipment time)
Full Time Employees (FTE)
Full Time Employees (FTE)
Any adjustments to the FTE’s
Any changes to staffing
Construction staffing will need to be discussed with the DE’s and resident engineers to account for transportation technicians that will be used in construction for the next fiscal year. (It should be noted that the budget for a transportation technician will always hit their home org–station/construction crew–regardless of where they are working during a specific pay period.)
The duration of the projects that the transportation technicians will be working on (night work, weekend work, shift differential, and/or overtime)
Safety/Non-Recoverable Crashes
Safety/Non-Recoverable Crashes
Any non-recoverable asset costs that occur when the region and or maintenance station does not have a crash number (A-number) to pursue reimbursement from an insurance company or the person at fault
Any opportunities to pursue a safety project (speak to your region traffic engineer to see if this is an acceptable project for HSIP funds.)
Agreements with Local Agencies or Third Parties
Agreements with Local Agencies or Third Parties
Any agreements in place between the region or maintenance station where a local agency or third party will perform work on an activity that will be reimbursed by the maintenance station. ( e.g., snow removal and street sweeping)
These agreements are updated fairly often and need to be included in the station's budget request. Also, these agreements may change based on the third party or local agencies ability to perform the work or a requested increase in price to do so. There are also instances where UDOT is performing work on behalf of a city, county or other government agency, and UDOT will be reimbursed for that work as well (see Chapter 21, Agreements for more information).
Other factors that can influence changes to maintenance stations budgets include changes to the nature of the transportation system that directly impact maintenance operations.
Example
Example
Maintenance Stations Budgets Examples
Maintenance Stations Budgets Examples
A two lane highway with open shoulders is to be reconstructed to include concrete barriers on both sides of the highway.
At-grade signalized intersections are converted to grade separated interchanges through a construction project.
Added costs by the inventory expanding and the actual costs of maintaining those assets.
The above examples would impose a change to the maintenance station and their winter operations. They are no longer able to plow snow directly off the shoulder; they now need to take into account the barrier and the impacts of throwing snow over the barrier. Increases in material costs, changes to the use of utilities, and the overall number of and age of vehicles need to be considered. The maintenance station also needs to be aware of crash history within their stations and evaluate how recent projects or other third party developments might impact the station’s overall costs due to crashes.
Region Maintenance Responsibilities
Region Maintenance Responsibilities
The station supervisor works with the maintenance analyst and area supervisor to generate a requested budget for the upcoming fiscal year based on the factors listed above. The district engineer(s) will coordinate with the maintenance analysts to review all maintenance stations requests and can provide adjustments based on their input. After the region DE’s have met and finalized all the maintenance stations, they determine the final request taking into account additional needs that may have not been captured by the maintenance stations.
Example
Example
Changes to policy or standards will require an increase to the requested funding amount.
Central Maintenance Responsibilities
Central Maintenance Responsibilities
Central Maintenance is tasked with evaluating each region’s request, identifying line items transfers, and managing any legislative funding changes to determine the overall distribution of funds to the regions. Central Maintenance provides a breakdown of all the funding requests with the proposed funding distribution to senior leaders. Once the request is approved by senior leaders, Central Maintenance meets with the regions to review their allocation of funding along with balancing the needs of Central Maintenance.
Budget Requests/Line Item Transfer Requests
Budget Requests/Line Item Transfer Requests
What are Line Item Transfer Requests and how do they affect maintenance funding?
Line Item Transfer Requests are requests for additional maintenance funds that are based on new and/or additional needs required to maintain the transportation system in a state of good repair. Funding for line items transfers are not new money from the legislature, but instead are funds that are reallocated from other UDOT line items. Requests for new funds from the legislature would be called Building Blocks which are more rarely used. There are many types of Line Item Transfer Requests such as:
Funds to maintain additional lane mileage (surface area) that has been added to the transportation system (funds may be used for equipment, materials, and personnel)
Funds to maintain or purchase additional equipment due to changing conditions or to increase operational efficiency
Funds to offset cost increases for materials or contracts required to maintain the transportation system
Example
Example
Funding to cover inflation cost or recently re-bid contracts such as the rest area maintenance contract.
Funding to support expanding maintenance expectations or additional needs that have been identified to meet the level of service that is required within the station’s boundaries
Example
Example
Litter control, homeless encampments, graffiti removal, etc.
Each year Central Maintenance coordinates with various regions to identify and quantify requests for line item transfers. These needs are presented to senior leadership who determine which line item transfers are to be presented to the legislature for funding determination.
More information will be presented in Chapter 16 Funding Requests.
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