The Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) has been notified by the
Federal Highway Administration that $51.9 million in federal funds will be
rescinded from the department’s federal allocation of funds for fiscal
year 2011. A rescission of funds means that federal dollars promised to
Tennessee have now been cancelled and will not be received.
“Nearly 50% of the department’s budget comes from the federal government,
so a reduction in these funds significantly impacts the resources
available to TDOT,” said TDOT Commissioner John Schroer. “This shortfall
requires the department to make difficult decisions in our core highway
programs,” Schroer continued, “We don’t want to make cuts anywhere that
would delay the delivery of projects that are ready to go.”According to
the U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration,
Section 2201 of the Full-Year Continuing Appropriations Act, 2011,
contains a $2.5 billion rescission of unobligated balances of funds
apportioned to the States of which Tennessee’s share is $51,950,327.