ODOT Region 5 staff offer insight on major budget shortfall and possible cutbacks

By Garrett Christensen on Monday, August 26th, 2024 in More Top Stories Northeastern Oregon News

EASTERN OREGON – Following initial confirmation of ODOT’s major budget shortfall for the 2025-27 biennium, Elkhorn Media Group spoke directly with Ken Patterson, director for ODOT Region 5, and Vicki Moles, Region 5 Community Affairs Specialist, on how the budget issue could impact Eastern Oregon going forward, along with the likelihood of a solution. (For reference, Region 5 covers the entirety of Eastern Oregon)

For those unfamiliar with the situation, a recently published report by ODOT confirms that the agency is facing a $354 million dollar budget shortfall for the coming biennium, which, if not rectified, could result in significant cutbacks to both staff and services, including, but not limited to:

Elimination of roughly 1,000 positions statewide and 104 in region 5 specifically.
50% reduction of winter materials purchased.
Sweeping reductions in the amount of preventative maintenance, winter preparations, and emergency services.
Closure of several maintenance stations (though none specifically in Eastern Oregon).

Elkhorn Media Group’s recent examination of the budget situation can be found at: https://elkhornmediagroup.com/odot-faces-354-million-budget-shortfall-potential-cuts-to-services-and-jobs-across-oregon/

When speaking with Patterson and Moles, both corroborated the initial report that declining gas tax revenue, rising inflation, and constraints on how much of ODOT’s budget can be dedicated directly to maintenance services have led to the current situation. While the shortfall is not new, as these issues have apparently been known internally for some time, this now marks the second year where major reductions in operations are required (at least on paper) to compensate for the lack of funds, as well as the first budget cycle in the past 31 years where ODOT’s reserve funds could not cover its overhead costs, according to Patterson. As more thoroughly explained by Patterson himself:

“This has been going on for a number of years. A lot of the things we were doing were behind the scenes. We had some bonding programs where we refinanced the debt. We cut spending in areas that weren’t quite visible, but last year was the first time we kind of played all of our options and had to go to the more visible things, which was reduced staffing, reduced level of service, not painting lines that aren’t necessarily required by standard, but people have come to appreciate. That has been building for the last four years.”

It should go without saying that the possibility of downscaling has been discussed thoroughly among local ODOT staff, with managers and crews being informed of the situation well before the issue went public. It should also be noted that ODOT is still funded through June 2025. As such, the proposed cutbacks will NOT impact services for the coming winter of 2024-25. That said, preparations are still being made for whatever happens next, with ODOT trying to remain as flexible as it can. One point brought up by Patterson is that many recently filled or currently open positions are being intentionally kept as short term. These positions can then be dropped if funds are cut, or filled permanently should they materialize.

Despite the understandable concern about such a significant shortfall and the possibility of major cutbacks, region 5 staff overall remain cautiously optimistic for the future, especially when taking the $19 million dollar emergency funding injection from last year into consideration. As explained by Patterson:

“I think there’s a lot of work to be done, but my optimism is that we’re going to find a way to fund transportation for a few reasons. The cuts that we were forced to make last year, which were relatively small compared to what we would be facing after June of 2025. There was a lot of feedback and people don’t want to see things go away. They don’t want to see a reduction in service. They don’t want to see reduced striping to save, at that time, $700,000 just in Eastern Oregon. They don’t want to see reduced workforces because transportation is key to everything they’re doing.”

As for what can be done, this will largely come down to whatever the state legislature decides during the 2025 long session. One broad solution discussed within ODOT includes new road usage charges/fees for different classes and efficiencies of vehicles, compensating for the decline in gas usage without overly punishing low efficiency vehicles. Again, however, any specific solution (both immediate funding and long-term budget stabilization) will be developed during the next legislative session.

Above all however, both Patterson and Moles emphasized that ODOT crews will continue to do their jobs as normal, cutbacks or otherwise. As reflected by Moles:

“It’s been encouraging to hear from Ken and Director Strickler that we’re encouraged to continue to show up every day and do the job that we’re here for. I don’t hear conversations of people that do not want to do that. It’s a good message internally for us to just show up every day, do the job that we’re supposed to do, show the public that we are here for them to make things safer, to maintain things as best we can, and just leave things up to the legislature.”

As similarly reflected by Patterson:

“We’re going to do the best we can with the resources we have because folks come to work here because they want to be of service, and that’s still going to be their mindset. They’ll just do the best they can with the resources they have and the time available they have to do it.”

For those that want to learn more about the budget situation or provide feedback, Oregon legislators will be visiting Ontario and Hermiston on August 28 and 29 respectively as part of the Statewide Transportation Safety and Sustainability Outreach Tour. Details (as provided by ODOT) are as follows:

“Wednesday, Aug. 28 in Ontario, the public hearing will be held at Treasure Valley Community College from 5-7:00 p.m. More details can be found on the Joint Committee on Transportation’s website: Transportation Joint 2023-2024 Interim – Oregon Legislative Information System (oregonlegislature.gov).

Thursday, Aug. 29 in Hermiston, the public hearing will be held at the Eastern Oregon Trade and Events Center from 5-7:00 p.m. More details can be found on the Joint Committee on Transportation’s website: Transportation Joint 2023-2024 Interim – Oregon Legislative Information System (oregonlegislature.gov)

There are many ways members of the public can participate in this conversation:

Testify in person: Members of the public can register in person starting 30 minutes before the meeting begins.
Testify remotely: The committee will also hear remote testimony if time permits, which the public can register for on the committee’s webpage at olis.oregonlegislature.gov by 5 p.m. the day before the day of the meeting.
Testify in writing: Additionally, written testimony can be submitted to the committee via email to JCT.exhibits@oregonlegislature.gov. “