Could Louisiana credit transportation-trust operating costs against borrowing from the TIMED account?

Plain-English summary

Louisiana's transportation secretary asked whether operating costs paid from the Transportation Trust Fund for TIMED projects could be credited against borrowing from the TIMED account. In 2001, the attorney general's office found no prohibition against that credit.

The request described a remaining balance of $26,832,425.97 owed to the TIMED account and $28,531,438 in Transportation Trust Fund operating costs spent on TIMED projects during fiscal years 1993 through 2000. The opinion referred to an earlier opinion that allowed credit for federal funds used on TIME projects and applied the same no-prohibition reasoning to the described operating costs.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2001. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

Transportation officials at the time

The office concluded that the described trust-fund operating costs could reduce the amount of interfund borrowing owed back to the TIMED account.

State budget officers at the time

The answer addressed crediting the specific operating costs described in the request. The opinion did not calculate a final repayment balance.

Common questions

Q: What transfer did the opinion address?
A: It addressed TIMED funds borrowed by the Transportation Trust Fund for projects outside the specified TIMED project list.

Q: Could trust-fund operating costs on TIMED projects count toward repayment?
A: The office said it found no prohibition against crediting those costs against the interfund borrowing.

Q: Did the opinion set a repayment deadline under the law then in force?
A: It quoted the statute's June 30, 2010 deadline for returning covered interfund borrowing to the TIMED account.

Background and statutory framework

R.S. 47:820.2(C), as quoted in the opinion, permitted certain TIMED-account appropriations for Transportation Trust Fund purposes, treated transfers outside the listed TIMED projects as interfund borrowing, and required their return to the account. The office compared the request with Op.Atty.Gen. No. 97-97, which had found no bar to a credit for federal funds used on TIME projects.

Citations and references

• R.S. 47:820.2(C) (interfund borrowing and repayment)
• Op.Atty.Gen. No. 97-97 (earlier credit analysis)

Source

• Landing page: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinions
• Original PDF: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinion/Download/00-0436

Original opinion text

January 18, 2001
OPINION NUMBER 00-436

50 Highways
Dr. Kam K. Movassaghi, Ph.D., P.E.
R.S. 47:820.2
Secretary
DOTD can credit interfund borrowing by amount
Department of Transportation and Development of TTF operating costs used for TIMED projects. P. O. Box 94245 Baton Rouge, LA 70804-9245

Dear Dr. Movassaghi:

You requested the opinion of this office regarding the propriety of offsetting the amount of Transportation Trust Fund (“TTF”) operational monies used in implementing the TIMED Program against the obligation to repay the sums borrowed by the TTF from the TIMED funds.

As you noted, R.S. 47:820.2(C) permitted the transfer of TIMED funds to the TTF as interfund borrowing with the requirement that the funds be returned to the credit of the TIMED Account no later than June 30, 2010. The remaining balance owed to the TIMED Account is $26,832,425.97. You advised that operating costs ranging from approximately $2.5 million to approximately $4.1 million per year were incurred on TIMED projects using TTF monies in the fiscal years 1993 through 2000. The total amount of such operating costs paid from TTF funds was $28,531,438.

Your question is whether this repayment method is legal and appropriate.
Please be advised as follows:

R.S. 47:820.2(C) provides in pertinent part as follows:

Monies in the Transportation Infrastructure Model for Economic Development Account not needed for the payment of principal, interest, or premium, if any, or other charges related to the issuance of bonds by the State Bond Commission may be appropriated and used for purposes not inconsistent with the Transportation Trust Fund. Any such appropriations shall be made before January 1, 1994. The total of any such appropriations made shall not exceed one hundred sixty million dollars in the aggregate. All such appropriations made for Transportation Trust Fund projects and purposes other than those provided for in Subsection B of this Section shall be considered interfund borrowing and shall be returned to the credit of the account no later than June 30, 2010. (Emphasis added).

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Dr. Kam K. Movassaghi
OPINION NUMBER 00-436
Page -2-

In accordance with this provision, DOTD borrowed $160 million of TIME funds for TTF projects not included in Subsection B's list of TIME projects. In Op.Atty.Gen. No. 97-97, this office found no prohibition against crediting the amount of interfund borrowing from the TIMED Account by the amount of federal funds used for one or more TIME projects.

Likewise, this office can find no prohibition against crediting the amount of interfund borrowing from the TIMED Account by the amount of Transportation Trust Fund monies used for operating costs, as described in your opinion request.

If you have any additional questions, please feel free to contact this office. Trusting this adequately responds to your request, we remain

Yours very truly,

RICHARD P. IEYOUB
Attorney General

BY:
MARTHA S. HESS
Assistant Attorney General

RPI/MSH
cc: Gary Hall

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Dr. Kam K. Movassaghi
OPINION NUMBER 00-436
Page -3-

OPINION NUMBER 00-436
Syllabus

50 Highways

R.S. 47:820.2

DOTD can credit interfund borrowing by amount of TTF operating costs used for TIMED projects.

Dr. Kam K. Movassaghi, Ph.D., P.E.
Secretary
Department of Transportation and Development
P. O. Box 94245
Baton Rouge, LA 70804-9245

Date Received:

Date Released: January 18, 2001

Martha S. Hess
Assistant Attorney General