The Oregon Department of Transportation’s basic responsibility of plowing roads in the winter is apparently in jeopardy, again.

ODOT is proposing a $5.71 billion budget for 2025-2027. It says it will not be enough to do basic winter maintenance work.

The money is about 10% less than ODOT’s 2023-2025 budget. ODOT says it will force cuts in operations and maintenance.

If it feels like you have heard this story before, you have. ODOT has consistently warned legislators that it faces revenue shortfalls and will have to make cuts in services unless it receives additional revenue.

Last year, it said — among other things — it may have to reduce the frequency of plowing of roads. That included between Bend and Sunriver. Legislators added in $39 million in one-time funds to offset some cuts.

But the issues with ODOT’s budget haven’t disappeared. It says even if it just maintained “current service levels,” it is falling behind on improving service, upgrading technology and staving off deterioration of its facilities. Its revenue for fiscal year 2025 is lower that it was for 2017, if you adjust for inflation. There is a widening gap between revenue and expenditures in the state highway fund, which is funded in large part by the gas tax.

What will be cut if ODOT has to make cuts?

Snow plowing, response time to incidents, patching, graffiti removal, litter clean ups are all on the list. ODOT also says it will need to reduce staff.

ODOT is offering several options for legislators to invest more in specific parts of ODOT’s services, such as more staffing to enable people to get Real ID, expanding teen driver education, bridge replacement and more. There is also a specific option at a cost of $171,000 to help Gov. Kotek’s housing and homelessness initiative by creating a single point of contact for project and permit reviews.

A group of legislators have been holding meetings around the state to discover what appetite Oregonians have for changes to fill ODOT’s funding gap. Their schedule had them slated to appear in Bend Sept. 12, but we haven’t seen an announcement about the time or place, yet.

An increased gas tax is one option that has been mentioned, though it wouldn’t be much of a long-term solution. A pay-by-the mile tax is another option that may account for vehicles that use our roadways but don’t use gasoline.

Some combination of options is coming to the 2025 session for legislators to consider.