NC DOT ‘fared well’ in state budget, will focus on Helene recovery

The North Carolina Department of Transportation says a newly enacted state budget will strengthen the agency’s ability to continue Hurricane Helene recovery while investing in highway maintenance, Division of Motor Vehicles services, and transportation infrastructure across the state.

During the Board of Transportation’s July meeting, officials highlighted the budget approved by the General Assembly and signed by Gov. Josh Stein, describing it as a significant financial commitment to the department after months of recovery work following Hurricane Helene.

The discussion centered on two themes — new transportation funding and the continued cost of rebuilding western North Carolina.

Heather Millet, NCDOT legislative director, told board members the department emerged from this year’s budget process with additional resources across several programs.

“We officially have a state budget,” Millet said. “We fared very, very well in my opinion in this year’s budget.”

The budget provides a $122 million increase to the Highway Trust Fund for the State Transportation Improvement Program and approximately $216 million for the Highway Fund, Millet told the board. Funding also includes employee raises and bonuses, ferry system improvements, additional DMV resources, and recurring maintenance funding.

Among the largest operational investments is $16.4 million for the Division of Motor Vehicles, along with funding for 65 new full-time positions. The new employees will support extended office hours and additional driver’s license offices.

The budget also authorizes the Board of Transportation to establish certain fees, including driveway permit fees, traffic impact analysis fees, subdivision review fees, and ferry tolls.

Millet said those changes will require additional work before implementation.

“We will be working internally to figure out what that proposal needs to look like in the coming weeks,” she said.

Board member David Womack asked how future ferry toll decisions would be handled and whether they would first be reviewed by the board’s multimodal committee.

Millet responded that the legislation gives the board authority to approve tolls but said agency officials were still determining the process for bringing any proposal forward.

“We can get more clarity on that and let you know,” she said.

The budget discussion came as NCDOT continues managing one of the largest disaster recovery efforts in agency history.

Chief Financial Officer Mark Newsome reported that, as of July 6, the department had spent approximately $1.696 billion responding to Hurricane Helene, representing roughly 29% of its current recovery forecast of just under $6 billion.

Federal reimbursements have also continued to increase.

Newsome said the department has received nearly $800 million in reimbursements from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) combined, including approximately $348 million from FEMA and $449 million from FHWA. Even with those reimbursements, NCDOT continues carrying a cash float of about $900 million while awaiting additional federal payments.

“Our forecast remains unchanged this month with just under $6 billion in total estimated spend,” Newsome told board members.

He added that spending is expected to accelerate during the summer construction season as more recovery projects move into active construction, although reported expenditures often lag behind field work because invoices are processed after work is completed.

“I would expect that monthly spend to start to tick up a little bit as we go through our reports for the rest of the summer and into the fall,” Newsome said.

Board Chairman Tony Lathrop praised ongoing recovery work after touring portions of Interstate 40 in western North Carolina.

“That is really strong and robust,” Lathrop said of reconstruction efforts. “You ought to see these very sophisticated and resilient concrete walls that they’re rebuilding there as they restore the highway. It’s quite an operation and is really humming along.”

Transportation Secretary Daniel Johnson also highlighted several recovery milestones during his remarks.

Johnson said reconstruction of US 64 in northeastern Henderson County has reached functional completion approximately two months ahead of schedule, restoring an important travel corridor between Hendersonville and the Bat Cave and Chimney Rock area.

He also reported continued progress on Interstate 40 through the Pigeon River Gorge, where more than 68,000 cubic yards of roller-compacted concrete have been placed as crews continue rebuilding damaged retaining walls near the Tennessee state line.

Additional Helene recovery work is underway in Yancey County, where multiple bridge replacements are progressing, and in Polk County, where $23M reconstruction has begun on Green River Cove Road following catastrophic storm damage.

Beyond disaster recovery, Johnson highlighted operational improvements at DMV, including the opening of a driver’s license office at Fort Bragg and a new digital document upload system that allows customers to submit insurance cards, leases, phone bills, and other required documents electronically during appointments.

“Since it’s launched, customers have uploaded about 32,000 documents using the new tool,” Johnson said. “It’s getting used as we had hoped, and that’s good news for everyone as we work to reduce wait times, prevent repeat visits, and improve the experience for those visiting the DMV.”

The department also announced that it will incorporate the newly approved state budget into an updated financial spending plan later this year.

Newsome said staff expects to present an updated spending plan to the Board of Transportation in September, with formal action anticipated in October, assuming the budget certification process proceeds on schedule. That update will include revised Hurricane Helene recovery projections based on current construction activity and reimbursement estimates.

As recovery work continues across western North Carolina, transportation officials said the combination of new state appropriations and ongoing federal reimbursements provides additional resources for both rebuilding storm-damaged infrastructure and maintaining transportation projects statewide.

“NC DOT ‘fared well’ in state budget, will focus on Helene recovery” was originally published on www.carolinajournal.com.