LANSING – In the best case scenario with available data from various sources, the Senate potentially passed about $309.8 million for road funding, but missed out on nearly as much potential revenue for roads by reaching an impasse on several other measures.

The Senate was able to pass a pair of bills, HB 5167 and HB 4251 , modifying competitive bidding requirements fairly easily. But a Senate Fiscal Analysis of those bills as they left committee said the bills would have an indeterminate fiscal impact at state and local levels (HB 5167) or have no fiscal impact at the state level but an indeterminate amount on counties and townships (HB 4251).

“While township-mandated competitive bidding could result in savings on some road projects, it could result in administrative costs,” the analysis noted on HB 4251.

Similarly, HB 5460 regarding replacement warranties on state roads would have an indeterminate impact on state and local governments, an analysis showed.

The Senate was, however, able to pass HB 4630 making numerous changes to registration fees. That bill currently stands to raise the most money among bills passed so far. Though some changes were made to the bill on the Senate floor, it was not immediately clear their impact on potential increased revenues.

Among the bill’s provisions, HB 4630 stands to raise about $10.2 million in revenue collected for late vehicle registration fees, according to numbers distributed by the Department of State. But the SFA also said there is little other data it can use to determine the amount of revenue other provisions of the bill could generate, such as late title transfer fees for vehicle dealers, extra service fees for international registration plan plates, and a $100 application fee for applying for a special identifying number in the case of removal of a vehicle identification number.

One certainty is revising the weight schedule of certain vehicles could generate about $4.6 million, and eliminating a 10 percent reduction on vehicle registrations could mean about $145 million.

The Senate included some changes on trailer registrations, which since 2003 have been a one-and-done type purchase in that they were lifetime registrations. Prior to that mandate, the SFA notes, about $35 million was generated for 1.2 million registrations. But now the department estimates about 134,625 registrations, on average, for trailers, and it was not immediately clear how much this provision could generate on its own.

The initial analysis by House Speaker Jase Bolger (R-Marshall) on what would become the roads funding package estimated $20 million could be generated by applying newly purchased vehicle value immediately upon transferring plates but the most recent SFA analysis was less clear about the funding impact of this provision within the bill.

About $130 million was expected to be generated by permanently dedicating all available revenue from the existing 6 percent sales tax collected on gas and diesel to roads, which appears could occur by passing SB 6 (which replaced HB 5459 ). The Catch-22 of SB 6 is that it depends on the price of motor fuel – if that increases, so too does the revenue generated, or vice versa. That bill awaits action in the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

If or when the Senate passes HB 5452 and HB 5453 (though the latter never left committee), it could stand to pick up $12.6 million – $8.6 million in additional revenue based on permit statistics from fiscal year 2012-13 and $4 million the state currently collects.

The Senate also missed out on an estimated $239 million, according to an analysis by Bolger’s office when he first presented the House road funding plan. That money would come from permanently dedicating one-sixth of the existing 6 percent of use tax revenue to roads.

Add to that another $47 million gained by repealing the 15 cents-per-gallon tax on diesel fuel and replacing that with a 6 percent wholesale tax (at $4 per gallon), which sought to be achieved through HB 5493 and HB 5477 . Although the Senate passed the former, the latter was an uphill battle for the chamber the past two days, and it was ultimately defeated, which is problematic because the two are tie-barred. A motion to reconsider was made on HB 5477, and despite being formally revised and presented on the floor in four different versions, still couldn’t win enough votes.

The next step for the Senate, according to Senate Majority Leader Randy Richardville (R-Monroe) is likely to be a work group to try to tackle the measure over the summer. But Richardville spokesperson Amber McCann said nothing formal had been set up on that front just yet.

“I think he thinks at this point that would be the next logical step because he would still like to see a resolution on road funding,” she said.

And who would serve on that work group is largely a guessing game, and the chamber already has the Senate Infrastructure Modernization Committee that Richardville created more than a year ago for largely the same purpose.

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