A severe budget shortfall has forced Kansas Gov. Mark Parkinson (D) to ask the state legislature to agree to the cancellation of state road projects for next year and for the remainder of the current fiscal year that ends June 30.
In the upcoming fiscal year that begins July 1, about $59 million in projects could be cancelled, officials said.
The governor’s announcement that he needs to move millions of dollars from Kansas’ highway fund to its general fund to help make up for revenue shortfalls “stunned” the state’s transportation director, Deb Miller.
Miller said the cancellations mean the “burden of balancing the state budget has fallen very heavily on the construction industry.”
The only saving factor for the department would be that federal economic stimulus funds will allow the state to do $112 million worth of road projects this summer, she said.
If the legislature agrees to his budget changes, however, $28 million worth of planned maintenance projects on roads would be cut during the remaining months of this fiscal year, Parkinson said Friday.
By Michele Fuetsch
Staff Reporter
