MoDOT Director Patrick McKenna Archives

To raise or not to raise Missouri’s gas tax?

February 2, 2021 By Alisa Nelson

Drivers could pay a little more when they go to the gas pump in Missouri. State Senate President Dave Schatz, R-Sullivan, is offering a bill that would ask voters to increase the fee by two cents per year over a five-year period.

Missouri Senate President Pro Tem Dave Schatz speaks to Capitol reporters on November 8, 2018 (photo courtesy of Harrison Sweazea at Senate Communications)

During a public hearing today about the plan, Schatz says an increase is necessary to pay for repairs to the state’s roads and bridges – and for the state’s economy.

“Making Missouri an attractive place for businesses to want to come and locate, without infrastructure, we are simply not going to be able to compete,” says Schatz.

Schatz says Missouri has the sixth largest road system in America, yet the state is ranked 48th in road funding.

Missouri has not raised the tax since 1996. The current rate is 17 cents per gallon for a gallon of unleaded fuel – one of the lowest in the nation.

Schatz says changes could be made to the bill to get it past the finish line. He cited a model used in South Carolina that gives a rebate to consumers.

Missouri Department of Transportation Director Patrick McKenna supports the measure.

“We support this bill primarily with information that we are providing here for the things we are not getting done as a state in terms of the infrastructure. Our citizen’s guide to transportation outlines essentially $8 to $10 billion of unfunded needs for our roads and bridges in this state,” says McKenna.

Randy Scherr, executive director of the Missouri Concrete Association, says ready-mix concrete was about $58 a yard in 1996. It took 341 gallons of fuel to pay for that yard of concrete. With vehicles averaging 19 miles per gallon, it took 6,500 miles to pay for that one yard.

“A year ago, the price of concrete was about $130 a yard, taking 753 gallons of fuel to pay for that yard. So, you can see what we have lost in our buying power and how far we are behind in funding our highway system,” says Scherr.

Some individuals testified in support of also boosting the fee for other motor fuels that exist today or in the future.

Tom Crawford with the Missouri Trucking Association spoke in support of the bill.

“For those of you in the Agriculture Committee hearing yesterday talking about biodiesel, one of the big discussions was where fuel is going. Fuel is going through Illinois,” says Crawford. “So, whatever we can do in Missouri to help create a situation where we are keeping some of those fuels and fuel purchases here, we would be in support of.”

No one testified against the plan.

The Missouri Senate Transportation, Infrastructure and Public Safety Committee has not yet voted on the proposal. To view Senate Bill 262, click here.

MoDOT has had about 2,500 workers resign since 2016

October 24, 2020 By Alisa Nelson

The Missouri Department of Transportation has had significant turnover over the last four years. During a Missouri Chamber of Commerce Transportation Summit this week, MoDOT Director Patrick McKenna says about 2,500 workers have left the agency since 2016. The agency has about 5,000 workers.

MODOT Director Patrick McKenna

“Kind of shocking. Imagine if that were the case in your industry, in your business also. That’s an incredible churn for us to manage and it comes at a significant cost – cost of capability, knowledge transfer, experience and dedication. There are a lot of soft costs,” says McKenna.

McKenna says the department has had a particularly tough time attracting civil engineers.

“We’ve had great success over 100 years attracting civil engineers into public service in Missouri – putting that Missouri funded education right to work here in Missouri at MoDOT,” says McKenna. “We’ve only been attracting about a 1/3 of the employees of new civil engineers from Missouri institutions. And why? It’s because we are not competitive in the market with our salaries.”

Missouri has the lowest paid state workforce in the nation. McKenna says MoDOT is taking a hard look at the benefits it offers employees.

MoDOT is also going into a critical time of year when it ramps up its winter weather operations. It is lacking plow truck drivers and heavy equipment operators. The shortage, coupled with COVID-19 likely to impact its workforce, could put the traveling public in a major bind this winter.

The department is hiring plow truck drivers and heavy equipment operators to handle things like plowing the snow and ice off roads, spreading salt and sand.

COVID-19 could put MoDOT, travelers in a major bind this winter

September 22, 2020 By Alisa Nelson

Missouri’s road cleanup crews could be in a major workforce dilemma this winter. The Missouri Department of Transportation has a shortfall of more than 400 plow truck drivers and heavy equipment operators.

Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) Director Patrick McKenna briefs Capitol reporters in Jefferson City on June 25, 2020. Governor Parson listens (photo courtesy of the governor’s Flickr page)

During a legislative committee hearing, MoDOT Director Patrick McKenna says he is concerned about the shortage growing this winter during the COVID-19 pandemic.

When the snow and ice start flying, the impacts could trickle down to drivers out on the roadways.

“If we lose a crew, which knocks out a maintenance facility for a two-week period in the middle of winter, we could have a severe impact on the essential service we provide during winter to the traveling public. I would say that is my primary concern right now.”

MoDOT spokesman Matt Hiebert tells Missourinet the state has 80 counties with only one maintenance facility. In total, the department has 167 maintenance sites.

McKenna says the department is hiring plow truck drivers and heavy equipment operators. The workers handle things like plowing the snow and ice off roads, spreading salt and sand.

Term-limited Missouri state senator urging colleagues to increase funding for MoDOT (AUDIO)

July 12, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

The outgoing Senate Transportation Committee chairman says Missouri is not funding roads and bridges adequately.

A truck driver travels on I-70 near Mineola Hill in east-central Missouri’s Montgomery County in 2019 (file photo courtesy of the Missouri Department of Transportation)

State Sen. Doug Libla, R-Poplar Bluff, is leaving the Senate in January, due to term limits. He says Missouri’s gasoline tax needs to be increased, noting the state’s 17-cent per gallon gas tax has remained the same since 1996.

“We need to do our jobs up here (Jefferson City) and that is to take care of the assets and resources that Missourians deserve and expect and the traveling public for the safety of our families, but also for economic development,” Libla says.

Libla filed Senate Bill 539 in January to raise the state’s gasoline tax from 17 to 19-cents per gallon. While the Transportation Committee approved it, the bill died on the Senate floor. Libla says that proposal would have raised $144 million annually for Missouri transportation.

While Missouri has the nation’s seventh-largest highway system with about 34,000 miles of roadway, it ranks 49th in funding. Chairman Libla says out-of-state motorists pay 40 to 50 percent of Missouri’s gasoline tax.

“When we go into their states, we have to pay what their (other states) going rate is on the fuel user tax per gallon. But they have lots of other taxes on their gasoline too, and diesel fuel,” says Libla.

For instance, he says Pennsylvania’s gasoline tax is 58-cents per gallon. Libla’s bill would also have adjusted the taxes on gasoline and diesel fuel annually for inflation.

Libla praises the job that the state Department of Transportation (MoDOT) is doing, including Director Patrick McKenna. He says they have a great staff, and are doing more with less.

Libla says MoDOT received about $100 million less in funding in 2019, than they received in 2010. He also notes that cities and counties receive about 30 percent of the funding, from Missouri’s gas tax.

“So it hurts our local county commissions that’s trying to keep our roads up, and our cities and our mayors, our (city) council people,” Libla says.

Libla says Senate Bill 539 would have provided cities and counties with an additional $44 million annually, for transportation.

Missouri voters rejected transportation tax increases in 2014 and again in 2018.

In addition to tight funding, MoDOT has also been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. State Rep. Becky Ruth, R-Festus, who chairs the bipartisan Joint Committee on Transportation Oversight, says the pandemic has had an impact of between $45 million and $100 million on MoDOT.

Director McKenna testified in late June that the impact is from several factors, including declines in license and registration fees and a decline in the motor vehicle sales tax. He also says the agency has delayed advertising on about $360 million in projects.

Despite the impact, MoDOT crews are still working every day. McKenna says more than 100 bridges in Missouri’s $350 million bridge bonding plan are now under contract, and 13 have already been completed. He says an additional 58 bridges are currently under construction.

In 2019, Missouri lawmakers approved the $350 million bridge bonding plan, which is repairing or replacing 250 deteriorating bridges.

Click here to listen to Brian Hauswirth’s full interview with Senate Transportation Committee Chairman Doug Libla, R-Poplar Bluff, which was recorded on June 25, 2020 at the Missouri Capitol in Jefferson City:

MoDOT to begin major I-70 project at east-central Missouri’s Mineola Hill next week

June 29, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

The state Department of Transportation (MoDOT) says the massive project to replace the aging I-70 Rocheport bridge in mid-Missouri is still in the planning phases. MoDOT Director Patrick McKenna says the agency is making good progress on a related project to build one-point-two miles of truck climbing lanes on I-70 at east-central Missouri’s Mineola Hill.

The state Department of Transportation (MoDOT) says work will begin on July 6 to add a third lane to both eastbound and westbound I-70 at Mineola Hill in Montgomery County (fall 2019 file photo courtesy of MoDOT)

“And we’re hoping by the end of the calendar year, we’re actually going to have a climbing lane at Mineola Hill,” McKenna says.

In 2019, MoDOT received an $81 million federal Infrastructure for Rebuilding America (INFRA) grant for the I-70 Rocheport bridge replacement and for the I-70 Mineola Hill truck climbing lanes. MoDOT says the Mineola Hill climbing lanes will generate safety and mobility benefits for both cars and trucks that travel at different speeds along that segment of I-70, which is in Montgomery County.

MoDOT says work will begin next Monday to add a third lane to both eastbound and westbound I-70 at Mineola Hill. MoDOT crews will be on-site to begin setting traffic control, as well as setting erosion control.

“We have substantial additional work on environmental work and engineering, before we get to the point of putting out an RFP for construction services on that,” says McKenna.

Construction at Mineola Hill is expected to be done by next fall. Columbia-based Emery Sapp and Sons is the prime contractor, and Barlett and West is handling design services.

As for the I-70 bridge in Rocheport, more than 12 million vehicles cross it every year. That includes three million trucks.

“And that equals to about 100 million tons of freight, which equals more than $154 billion annually so many trucks,” U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler, R-Harrisonville, told Missourinet in 2019.

Rocheport, which is just west of Columbia, is in Congresswoman Hartzler’s district. The current Rocheport bridge is 60 years old, and MoDOT says it’s in poor condition.

Pandemic has had up to a $100 million impact on Missouri Department of Transportation

June 25, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

Missouri lawmakers heard new details on Thursday morning in Jefferson City about the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on the state Department of Transportation (MoDOT). That impact includes cuts.

State Department of Transportation (MoDOT) Director Patrick McKenna testifies before the Missouri Joint Committee on Transportation Oversight on June 25, 2020 in Jefferson City (Brian Hauswirth photo)

MoDOT Director Patrick McKenna testified before the bipartisan Joint Committee on Transportation Oversight, which is chaired this year by State Rep. Becky Ruth, R-Festus.

Director McKenna testifies the COVID-19 pandemic has had a $45 to $100 million impact on his agency. That’s because of several factors, including declines in motor fuel tax revenues, license and registration fees and the motor vehicle sales tax.

McKenna says the agency has reduced discretionary purchases for non-construction activities, and has placed an executive review on all new hiring. That began in March.

He also testifies that MoDOT has delayed advertising on about $360 million in projects in Missouri.

McKenna will join Governor Mike Parson (R) at today’s media briefing with Capitol reporters. That will start at 3 p.m. in Jefferson City.

State racks up millions in unpaid bills owed to Amtrak

January 28, 2020 By Alisa Nelson

Daily Missouri River Runner service from St. Louis to Kansas City continues chugging along but if the state doesn’t start paying its bills, the trips could get derailed. During a Missouri House Budget Committee hearing, MoDOT Director Patrick McKenna says Missouri owes the company more than $6.5 million in unpaid bills and about $12 million for its service contract this year. He’s requesting more money from the Legislature to help pay off the debt.

State racks up millions in unpaid bills owed to Amtrak

“Actually, it is an embarrassment,” says McKenna. “We have to deal with these folks at the federal level. We’re not paying our bill. They’ve been giving us a pass. They’re now charging interest on the arrearage.”

Amtrak is charging 12% interest on what Missouri owed last year.

“To retain the service, is a $12 million annual bill. We’re currently paying 9 (million dollars) a year and it’s an arrearage that’s growing,” says McKenna.

“How did it get to that point in the first place,” asks Representative Don Mayhew, R-Crocker.

“The requests to fund the operating costs have not been granted through the budget process annually,” says McKenna.

“And that started how long ago,” asks Mayhew.

“2010,” says McKenna.

McKenna tells Mayhew the debt could endanger the service’s future.

Some lawmakers, including Representative Deb Lavender, D-Kirkwood, says the River Runner plays an important role in Missouri’s tourism. The line stops in Lavender’s hometown of Kirkwood, as well as Hermann and Sedalia. All three are tourism points.

The Missouri Legislature is in full swing with its fiscal year 2021 budget work.

MoDOT head calls agency’s turnover rate ‘a crisis’

January 23, 2020 By Alisa Nelson

Missouri Department of Transportation Director Patrick McKenna says MoDOT is experiencing a historic 13% annual turnover rate. During a Missouri House subcommittee budget hearing Wednesday, McKenna says he expects well over 700 employees could leave during the current fiscal year.

MODOT Director Patrick McKenna

“We do consider that a crisis because we need skilled and trained people and professionals to be out providing the services throughout,” says McKenna. “We recognize that we’re not alone in state government with this and in fact, sometimes when you look at the numbers of the Department of Transportation relative to other agencies, you might think we don’t have a problem.”

According to MoDOT, employee turnover could potentially reach 15% in FY20 based on over 190 employees leaving MoDOT in the first quarter of FY20.

McKenna says the turnover rate is generational, but indicates pay is also part of the problem.

“Kansas City – we have a turnover of nearly 200 professionals a year going on,” says McKenna. “In St. Louis – over 150. That’s an extraordinary load.”

In FY17, 554 workers left the department through termination, retirement or voluntarily. The following year, the agency had 611 employees depart. In FY19,
679 workers did.

“Just the challenge of replacing those folks and getting them trained and ready to go is extraordinary,” says McKenna. “But we also calculate the cost of that turnover to the taxpayers – both the hard and soft costs, as well as leave payouts. It well exceeds 30 million dollars a year.”

MoDOT estimates that overall turnover cost the Department $36.9 million in FY19 stemming from $2.1 million in hard costs (e.g., employee labor to fill the job, and related costs such as advertising, drug testing, background checks, and physicals); $2.2 million from leave payouts following all separations; and $32.6 million in soft costs (e.g. loss of productivity, onboarding, rework, retraining, and distraction of supervisor and co-workers).

In FY19, MoDOT filled 895 maintenance positions and 541 non-maintenance positions. At this time, MoDOT employs 718 Maintenance Workers (average salary of $31,742), 270 Intermediate Maintenance Workers (average salary of $34,017), 1069 Senior Maintenance Workers (average salary of $37,693), 418 Maintenance Crew Leaders (average salary of $40,967), 69 Assistant Maintenance Supervisors (average salary of $45,084), 170 Maintenance Supervisors (average salary of $50,059). These six positions account for over 50 percent of our total salaried workforce.