South Carolina’s Transportation Department does not have enough cash to meet its payments in August and is asking the federal government for help, state officials said.
The expected $28 million deposit from the Federal Highway Administration this month will not cover a shortfall, so the agency has asked the federal government for an additional $52 million in accelerated highway construction reimbursements, SCDOT spokesman Pete Poore told the (Charleston, S.C.) Post and Courier.
The paper reported Aug. 13 that SCDOT had $28.3 million on hand but nearly $120 million in immediate outstanding debts such as salaries and contractor payments.
South Carolina has problems maintaining its highways in part because its fuel tax, at 16 cents a gallon for diesel and gas, is among the lowest in the nation, said Rick Todd, president of the South Carolina Trucking Association.
“And we have a huge state-maintained road system, one of the largest in the country. It’s over 40,000 miles of roads and the only source of funding for maintenance for those roads is the state’s fuel tax,” he said.
