Over the past six years, $4.25 billion has been diverted from the Motor License Fund to repair roads and bridges, and used to fund Pennsylvania State Police, the state auditor general announced.

Auditor General Eugene DePasquale announced the figure as he released his 122-page audit of PennDOT between Jan. 1, 2014, and June 30, 2017 on Thursday.

“That is money that PennDOT could have otherwise used to address a growing list of repairs needed across the state, including those 2,829 structurally deficient, state-owned bridges,” DePasquale said at a news conference in Harrisburg attended by state Secretary of Transportation Richards.

DePasquale repeatedly clarified the audit did not take issue with PennDOT or state police on the funding issue, but rather shows the need to better fund state police and transportation in the state.

“It is unconscionable that it has been since the mid 90s since the federal government has done a major highway transportation package,” DePasquale said. “Washington, D.C., needs to get out of their ideologically sandbox and come together ... and pass a transportation bill.”

Under the state constitution, motorist fees and fuel taxes like the Motor License Fund are to be solely used for highway and bridge construction, repair and safety.

“Right now Pennsylvania is paying the highest gas tax in the nation. Actually three cents more than even California, 13 cents more than New York, and 18 cents more than New Jersey," he said.

In 2017, a state Legislative Budget and Finance Committee study found more than $200 million a year in highway construction funds were being diverted to subsidize the Pennsylvania State Police.

The need for state police funding is increasing, as “so many municipalities across Pennsylvania are getting rid of their local police departments,” he added.

“I want to be clear about this -- the state police need to be funded, and there needs to be a solution for that funding source from the General Assembly, when these local police departments are eliminated and state police has to do that coverage. But that should not be coming out of the Motor License Fund,” DePasquale said.

In the fiscal year 2017-2018 alone, $789,580,000 was siphoned from the fund for state police, money that could have made a “significant dent” in PennDOT’s urgent needs, he added.

DePasquale made a list of projects that could have benefited from that money, including speeding up the $30 million rehab of 2.6 miles of Route 611 in the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area in Monroe County, identified as the “missing link” connector for the Liberty Trail.

“The impact of the Motor License Fund transfer to the Pennsylvania State Police on other projects is a problem that has existed for years. However, it is important to note that the budget now caps and decreases this transfer each year," Gov. Tom Wolf’s spokesman J.J. Abbott said.

Wolf previously proposed funding state police with a per capita fee of $25 for municipalities without their own police forces, beginning in the 2018-2019 fiscal year.

This year, the proposal changed to a sliding scale fee that would start with $8 per person for communities with 2,000 or fewer residents, and go up to $166 per person for communities with 20,000 residents or more.

Richards said PennDOT’s overall budget is $10.2 billion, across all modes.

“There’s even more evidence of the urgent need for sustainable transportation funding in Pennsylvania,” Richards said. “It’s time for federal action to address deteriorating infrastructure nation-wide.”

DePasquale held the news conference in front of one of the state’s structurally deficient bridges.

“They are everywhere,” he said, showing a map of the state-owned structurally deficient bridges across Pennsylvania.

Auditor General Eugene DePasquale released this map of structurally deficient bridges in Pennsylvania on April 25, 2019.Image courtesy the Pennsylvania Auditor General's office

Sarah Cassi may be reached at scassi@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @SarahCassi. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.