Article 4.5. Transportation Budget of California Streets And Highways Code >> Division 1. >> Chapter 1. >> Article 4.5.

The department shall prepare and submit to the Governor a proposed budget. The department shall include, within the proposed budget, the portion of that budget that is to be funded from the State Highway Account. The department shall inform the commission of all pertinent assumptions and policy directions it intends to use in preparing the budget. This information shall be forwarded to the commission as soon as available. The commission shall review the assumptions and policy directions used in preparing the budget and forward its comments and recommendations to the department.

The portion of the proposed budget to be funded from the State Highway Account shall be included in the printed fiscal year budget submitted to the Legislature. The degree of detail contained in the portion of the proposed budget shall be established jointly by the Department of Transportation and the Department of Finance. That portion of the proposed budget shall be, for the State Highway Account, the complete and detailed budget as required by Section 13320 of the Government Code. In case of inconsistency between that section and this article, the provisions of this article shall control. Notwithstanding Section 13321 of the Government Code, the Department of Transportation, in administering the budget of the State Highway Account, shall be responsible for determining the expenditures or incurrence of obligations by quarter or other period of the fiscal year.

In order to support its proposed budgets and to improve its program management, the Department of Transportation shall develop budgeting, accounting, fiscal control, and management information systems to provide at least the following information:
  (a) Documentation and control of positions and personnel services expenditures.
  (b) Accounting and reporting of revenues and expenditures on a basis generally consistent with provisions of the Government Code. These systems shall be developed to better inform the Legislature so that responsible legislative oversight of the program and budget of the Department of Transportation would be possible. These systems shall recognize the special characteristics of the department's program. Development of these systems shall be closely coordinated with the Department of Finance, the Joint Legislative Budget Committee, the Committees on Transportation of the Senate and Assembly, the Subcommittee on General Government and Transportation of the Senate Committee on Finance, and the Subcommittee on Resources and Transportation of the Assembly Committee on Ways and Means.

(a) Funds in the State Highway Account in the State Transportation Fund shall be programmed, budgeted subject to Section 163, and expended to maximize the use of federal funds and shall be based on the following sequence of priorities:
  (1) Operation, maintenance, and rehabilitation of the state highway system.
  (2) Safety improvements where physical changes, other than adding additional lanes, would reduce fatalities and the number and severity of injuries.
  (3) Transportation capital improvements that expand capacity or reduce congestion, or do both.
  (4) Environmental enhancement and mitigation programs.
  (b) With respect to the funds in the State Highway Account, in the Public Transportation Account, and in the Passenger Rail Bond Fund, the proposed budget shall be organized on a program basis. The proposed budget shall list the proposed expenditures for the transportation program under the following program elements:
  (1) Administration.
  (2) Program development.
  (3) Maintenance.
  (4) State highway operation and protection.
  (5) Local assistance.
  (6) Interregional improvements.
  (7) Regional improvements.
  (8) Environmental enhancement and mitigation programs.
  (c) State operations expenditure amounts of the department for interregional and regional transportation improvement projects shall be listed as required by subdivision (b) of Section 14529 of the Government Code, but those amounts other than those for the acquisition of rights-of-way, construction, and construction support shall not be subject to allocation by the commission.
  (d) To align the annual budget with the adopted state transportation improvement program, the department may submit to the Department of Finance revised capital outlay support and capital outlay budget estimates as part of its May Revision process. Budget proposals related to these changes shall be provided to the Legislature no later than May 1.
  (e) The budget shall not include specific appropriations for specific transportation improvement projects, and the Legislature shall not enact legislation containing specific individual transportation projects.
  (f) The basis for defining major and minor capital outlay projects shall be established by the commission.
  (g) The Legislative Analyst shall prepare an analysis of the proposed expenditures for each program element as a part of the budget analysis.
  (h) The department shall submit to the Legislative Analyst, and the Senate Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review and the Assembly Committee on Budget, on an annual basis, supplemental information to substantiate the department's proposed capital outlay support budget. The information shall be provided no later than May 1 of each year, and may be provided at an earlier date. The information shall include, but not be limited to, the following:
  (1) A list of projects for which the department will perform capital outlay support work in the budget year. For each project, the department shall include:
  (A) The planned project support budget for support of environmental, design, right-of-way, and construction phases.
  (B) The planned capital costs, including construction capital costs and right-of-way capital costs.
  (C) The estimated or actual construction start date and completion date.
  (D) The name and year of the state transportation program in which the project is programmed, if applicable.
  (E) Total prior fiscal year expenditures for capital outlay support.
  (F) The number of full-time equivalent positions requested to perform support of environmental, design, right-of-way, and construction work in the fiscal year of the budget request.
  (G) Milestones of project work by phases that are planned to be completed in the fiscal year of the budget request.
  (H) The ratio of support to capital costs based on current programming.
  (2) The capital-to-support ratio for all projects completed in the prior fiscal year in each program in each district.
  (3) The current total number of authorized and vacant positions in the capital outlay support program in headquarters and in each district.
  (4) A five-year projection of the department's staffing needs to support the state's transportation capital programs and any workload performed by the department related to federal or local funding for highway capital projects.
  (5) The average cost of a personnel-year equivalent in each district based on the department's existing contracts for capital outlay support work performed by a private company under contract with the department. For each average cost, the department shall provide a description of what factors are included in that cost.
  (6) The average cost of a state staff personnel-year in the capital outlay support program in each district and in headquarters. The cost shall include the salary and wages, benefits, program overhead, administrative overhead, and other associated costs. The department shall provide a description of each component of the average cost.
  (7) A summary of expected capital outlay support workload for the budget year that includes the following:
  (A) The total full-time equivalents requested for each type of the following activities: environmental, design, right-of-way, and construction.
  (B) The total full-time equivalents requested for each type of project, including, but not limited to, the state transportation improvement program, the state highway operation and protection program, bond programs, regional and local agency partnership workload, and any other program.
  (8) The total number of projects with requested resources, as well as the number of projects in which the department is limited to an oversight role.
  (9) The number of milestones scheduled, including environmental, design, right-of-way, and construction deliverables, as well as the number of projects expected to begin construction and reach completion.
  (10) A summary for the most recently completed fiscal year for the following:
  (A) Full-time equivalents and related funding expended, including support of environmental, design, right-of-way, and construction activities.
  (B) Approved and filled positions as of the end of the fiscal year.

For the purposes of this code, except as provided in Section 170, the date of the award of a contract and of the commencement of a day-labor project shall be deemed the time when the entire obligation thereunder is incurred.

Where it is estimated by the department that the work involved in a project to be constructed under the State Contract Act (Chapter 1 (commencing with Section 10100) of Part 2 of Division 2 of the Public Contract Code) will not be completed within a given fiscal year, the department, in the contract specifications, may provide a limitation upon the amounts that will be paid to the contractor during the first or second fiscal years of the construction period. Subject to this limitation, the contracts shall provide for the completion of the work and full payment therefor. For the purposes of complying with Section 169, the department may include in any proposed budget, and the commission may allocate, at least the amounts with reference to those construction projects as would be payable during the fiscal year, together with all necessary engineering and other charges.

Notwithstanding Section 13302 of the Government Code, the department may, with respect to any project which will not be completed within a fiscal year, finance the project on a cash basis if the department has sufficient unused bonding authority not earmarked for any other project.

Prior to the commencement of each fiscal year, the department may advertise for bids for capital outlay projects anticipated to be budgeted during the fiscal year. However, the department shall not award any contract for any capital outlay project until (1) sufficient funds have been appropriated for such project and (2) the commission has allocated sufficient funds for the project.