Report faults NCDOT overspending amid layoff threats, stopped road projects

RALEIGH -- Natural disasters and legal expenses related to an overturned state law aren’t the only reasons the N.C. Department of Transportation is short on funds, according to a review from an outside consultant hired by the agency.

An eight-page report from the firm McKinsey titled “Shaping the NCDOT of the future” was posted on NCDOT’s website in the last month. The funding shortfall has prompted DOT leaders to consider hundreds of layoffs of temporary employees and suspend work on numerous road projects.

Legislators are considering extra allocations, and the NC Chamber has started a lobbying push on behalf of the DOT contractors that will likely be harmed by the suspended projects.

The memo related to the McKinsey report notes that an unusually high amount of disaster-related needs prompted DOT to spend $296 million in fiscal year 2019, well above the budgeted $50 million.

Read more: https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/politics-government/article236035813.html