The SC House has passed their version of the state’s $10.2 billion general fund spending plan. The bill now resides in the SC Senate.

Included in the budget is a $100 million non-recurring allocation to accelerate the state’s pavement program. The money will be split between the SCDOT and the County Transportation Committees.

• $77 million will be allocated to SCDOT for use on Farm to Market Secondaries. These funds can only be used for rehabilitation and reconstruction, not preservation. Estimates indicate that this revenue will repave approximately 240 miles (3%) of the Farm to Market Secondary network.
  • This allocation will supplement SCDOT’s current planned investment of $89.4 million on this network. The funding would be allocated using the current methodology (relative share of lane miles), and existing prioritization criteria will be used to ensure that every county receives funding.
  • Projects will be put in a special bidding in September 2020, and contractors would be provided one paving season to complete the work (by the end of November 2021).
• $23 million would be split evenly among the County Transportation Committees (CTCs) at $500,000 per CTC. The funds must be used for maintenance and repairs to existing state-owned Farm to Market Secondaries.

SCFOR commends the House for making infrastructure a budget priority. In a post-Act 40 South Carolina, this infusion of revenue is a welcomed investment and will bolster ongoing efforts to bring our roads back to a state of good repair.