Dear Neighbors:
The brutal killing on Wednesday of Charlie Kirk, and the inflammatory rhetoric it elicited from some national figures, bring to the fore the dangers of political violence in our country. As reported in the Providence Journal, the Kirk murder was followed by bomb threats to Rhode Island Senate leadership, which sadly are part of a trend, in recent years, of threats of violence received by Rhode Island’s public officials. We can take some consolation from a joint statement by Rhode Island’s Young Democrats and Young Republicans organizations, offering a model of bipartisan unity in support of our society’s core values.
While these concerns rightly command our urgent attention, this letter will discuss a less compelling (though still important) subject, namely the Rhode Island Transit Authority (RIPTA) budget.
A. The RIPTA Budget
1. The Agency’s $10 million deficit
As noted in my June 24 letter, the General Assembly provided partial funding to close the deficit in the RIPTA budget, through the dedication to RIPTA of increased proceeds from the motor fuel tax and the highway maintenance account (HMA), which collects the proceeds of a number of DMV fees. These measures still left RIPTA with a roughly $10 million deficit. On the last day of session, I introduced a budget amendment to increase RIPTA’s share of HMA proceeds to close this deficit, but I was unable to gain sufficient support to pass the amendment.
2. Redirecting RIDOT funding to close the deficit
I based this proposal on my belief that the Rhode Island Department of Transportation (which currently receives the bulk of proceeds from HMA, could manage the impact of a $10 million funding reduction more easily than could RIPTA. Since that time, RIPTA has completed a study demonstrating its efficient operations, and has adopted a revised budget that calls for significant service reductions to balance its budget.
Since that time, I have worked with the Senate Fiscal Office to compile data to test my belief. I have learned that the RIDOT budget is quite complex, and I have not yet been able to make a clean “apples to apples” comparison of the RIPTA and RIDOT budgets. With that said, I can share some preliminary results at this time by comparing aspects of the two agencies budgets at two points in time, namely the fiscal year ending June 30, 2015 and the current year’s budget (which will run through June 30, 2026).
Over that eleven-year span, the RIPTA budget increased from $100.1 million to $155.5 million, or just over 55%. In contrast, the State’s 5-year capital budget for RIDOT’s Highway Improvement Program increased from $1.399 billion to $4.414 billion, or 215.5%. While much of that funding is restricted to highway construction (such as federal funds and an estimated $170 million of truck toll revenue), other sources, such as $81 million of motor fuel tax proceeds, $437 million of HMA proceeds and $251 million of RI Capital Funds are not. A five-year commitment of $10 million annually to RIPTA (i.e. $50 million) would amount to less than 1.4% of this program. I will need to refine this comparison to consider the impact on matching federal funds, but even if the full impact is a 4:1 match, we are still talking about a reduction of less than 7% of RIDOT’s highway improvement program, which has seen overwhelming growth. As we review the RIDOT budget, perhaps we should ask for the same type of independent efficiency study we have obtained from RIPTA.
B. Reminder: Community Meeting
Between the RIPTA budget locally and the Revolution Wind stop work order and other national developments, I would like to hear your thoughts about where our State is going, and how I can do a better job representing our neighborhood in the Senate. To that end, I have scheduled a community meeting to take place on Wednesday, September 24 from 6:00–7:45 at the Rochambeau Library. I look forward to seeing you there.