Stubbornly high prices for heavy equipment, supplies, and technology continue to impact the budget of the Department of Transportation. This was the department’s message as it presented its fiscal year 2026 spending proposal to the House Transportation, Infrastructure, and Capitals budget subcommittee on Monday.
The department and Gov. Kim Reynolds are proposing to spend $482.6 million on DOT operations and facility improvements in fiscal year 2026. This is an increase of $12.5 million over the current fiscal year’s spending level. The vast majority of the increase is driven by replacement costs for equipment.
The DOT is replacing vehicles and equipment on a 12-year schedule. And again, this year, replacement costs have taken a big jump. As an example, the department said the cost of replacing a truck purchased in 2013 for $132,000 had risen to $226,000 last year. That is a 71% increase over 12 years.
DOT is working to stretch out the working life of some vehicles beyond their scheduled replacement date as it tries to combat the rise in prices and continued supply chair issues. But still, the budget line item for equipment replacement in fiscal year 2026 will go up by another $10.2 million, with the total cost of this year’s new equipment coming in at almost $40 million.
The governor’s proposal also includes investments in safety equipment. DOT is proposing to deploy new equipment for replacing potholes, by deploying trucks where employees would remain in the cab while filling the pothole. The need for this was made clear when a DOT employee was killed last spring in the Council Bluffs area while attempting to make road repairs.
In addition to the regular budget request, DOT is also asking for authorization to begin replacing the 20-year-old computer system handling drivers licenses and vehicle registration. Building the new computer system will be a three-year project costing $60 million. If approved, the new system would be functioning by FY 2029 and is expected to save $12.5 million annually.
Join Megan Jones for a Legislative Forum on Saturday, Feb. 15, at 11:30 a.m. at King’s Pointe Resort in Storm Lake.
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