Transportation Secretary Jimmy Wriston told the committee on Sunday afternoon that inflation continues to be a hindrance to road construction projects across West Virginia.
Specifically, Winston spoke of supply chain issues and the difficulty purchasing and maintaining vehicles and construction equipment amid 9.1 percent inflation in the last 12 months and a 1.3 percent increase in June alone.
Wriston noted that with those challenges, it has been impossible for state dollars to keep pace. The state ended the fiscal year roughly $72 million below projections for the state Road Fund. The fund comes from a mix of sources, including gasoline tax, licenses and registration fees and federal reimbursements.
Wriston pointed out that those revenue streams are down across the board, but the gasoline tax revenue has declined the most, amid soaring gas prices in recent months.
