Report Cites Overspending For Budget Shortfall At NCDOT

A new report says overspending is partially to blame for a North Carolina Department of Transportation budget shortfall. 

The study by the firm McKinsey is called “Shaping the NCDOT of the Future.”

According to the News & Observer, the report acknowledges a series of natural disasters that caused the agency to spend almost $300 million in fiscal year 2019. The budget for the year had been $50 million.

But the study faults NCDOT for overspending among the multi-county divisions that oversee road projects. The budget shortfalls have led agency officials to consider laying off hundreds of temporary workers and suspending a number of road projects.

Lawmakers are considering extra allocations to the department. But some Senate Republicans say that giving the agency more money won't solve what they consider to be a fundamental problem of fiscal mismanagement.