Administrative disbursements typically include general and main-office expenditures in support of state-administered highways. They do not include project-related costs but occasionally include “parked” funds, which are funds from bond sales or asset sales awaiting later expenditure. Therefore, they vary widely from year to year. Administrative disbursements comprise about 6.3 percent of total disbursements, totaling $8.81 billion in 2016, nearly identical to 2015 ($8.85 billion), the last time this assessment was completed.
Administrative Disbursements Per State-Controlled Lane-Mile
24th Annual Highway Report
This year, we measure administrative disbursements per lane-mile. In past years, we measured them in centerline-miles. The average 2016 per-mile disbursement is $4,501 (Table 9, Administrative Disbursements per State-Controlled Mile, 2016, Figure 4). We also calculated disbursements in centerline-miles to compare 2016 disbursements to previous years. Centerline-mile disbursements decreased about 0.4 percent, from $10,864 per mile in 2015 to $10,825 per mile in 2016. This very slight decrease maintains a generally steady spending trend over the last decade. Since 2007, these per-mile disbursements have increased about 15 percent, while the Consumer Price Index (CPI) has increased by about 18 percent.3
In 2016, Kentucky, Nebraska, Arkansas, Missouri and Maine reported the lowest administrative expenditures. Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New Jersey reported the highest per-mile expenditures.
The states with the largest percentage shifts from 2015 to 2016 were Delaware (which increased per-mile expenditures by more than 214 percent) and Ohio and New Hampshire (which decreased per mile expenditures by 60 percent and 48 percent respectively). Some of the disbursements per state-controlled mile can vary widely from year to year, reflecting funding actions and project schedules.
* Massachusetts’ latest disbursement data is from 2010.
Table 9: Administrative Disbursements per State-Controlled Lane-Mile
| Rank | State | Disbursement |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kentucky | $490 |
| 2 | Nebraska | $846 |
| 3 | Arkansas | $916 |
| 4 | Missouri | $928 |
| 5 | Maine | $1,142 |
| 6 | Louisiana | $1,228 |
| 7 | South Carolina | $1,310 |
| 8 | North Dakota | $1,343 |
| 9 | West Virginia | $1,362 |
| 10 | North Carolina | $1,524 |
| 11 | Texas | $1,873 |
| 12 | Montana | $2,175 |
| 13 | Idaho | $2,451 |
| 14 | Mississippi | $2,587 |
| 15 | Iowa | $2,650 |
| 16 | Kansas | $2,772 |
| 17 | Wyoming | $3,004 |
| 18 | South Dakota | $3,100 |
| 19 | Ohio | $3,119 |
| 20 | Virginia | $3,143 |
| 21 | Indiana | $3,544 |
| 22 | Illinois | $3,890 |
| 23 | Minnesota | $4,687 |
| 24 | Tennessee | $4,740 |
| 25 | Michigan | $5,107 |
| 26 | New Hampshire | $5,260 |
| 27 | Colorado | $5,337 |
| 28 | Pennsylvania | $5,408 |
| 29 | Utah | $5,414 |
| 30 | Washington | $5,451 |
| 31 | Oregon | $5,968 |
| 32 | Alaska | $6,078 |
| 33 | Wisconsin | $6,916 |
| 34 | Hawaii | $7,001 |
| 35 | Alabama | $7,151 |
| 36 | Maryland | $7,418 |
| 37 | Florida | $7,780 |
| 38 | Oklahoma | $8,484 |
| 39 | New Mexico | $9,659 |
| 40 | Vermont | $9,928 |
| 41 | Georgia | $10,638 |
| 42 | Arizona | $10,954 |
| 43 | New York | $11,315 |
| 44 | California | $11,357 |
| 45 | Nevada | $12,468 |
| 46 | New Jersey | $14,035 |
| 47 | Rhode Island | $17,162 |
| 48 | Massachusetts | $23,950 |
| 49 | Delaware | $25,120 |
| 50 | Connecticut | $35,028 |
| Weighted Average | $4,501 |