Utah Spends 38 Of Road Funds For Mainiainance, 1946-48 The Utah State Road Commission Commis-sion spent $10,402,376 for construction, con-struction, maintenance, and po licing state highways during the fiscal year ended June 30, 1948, compared with $9,652,284 for the fiscal year 1947, according to the current research report of Utah Foundation, the non-profi' tax study organization. The largest source of revenue to finance highway expenditures expendi-tures was the motor fuel tax which yielded $6,527,046 in 1948 compared with $5,855,529 in 1947. Federal aid is the second largest source of revenue accounting ac-counting for $3,650,214 in 1948 and $2,218,733 in 1947. Expenditures for construction of state roads in Utah totaled $5,869,260 in the fiscal year ended June, 1948, compared with $4,970,351 for 1947 and $1,394,-737 $1,394,-737 for the 1946 fiscal year. Analyzing the Federal aid pic- ture, the report notes that Congress Con-gress in 1944 appropriated $500,-000,000 $500,-000,000 for Federal aid for highway high-way construction for each of the years 1946, 1947, and 194S. The inability of the states to plan and carry out their post-war highway building programs, at the rate contemplated resulted in time extensions until June 30. 1951. The 1948 Congress appropriated appro-priated an additional $450,000,-000 $450,000,-000 for each of the two years 1950 and 1951. This latter appropriation ap-propriation may be spent anytime any-time after September, 1948. Utah's share of the 1944 Federal Fed-eral Aid appropriation for highway high-way construction amounted to $13,913,000. Utah will receive an additional $8,298,280 as their share of the 1948 appropriation. As of August 31, 1948, Utah ranked eighth among eleven western states in the total percentage per-centage of the 1944 Federal Aid appropriation either complete or under contract. Utah had completed or under contract $8,-345,000 $8,-345,000 or 60 of its Federal aid allotment, compared to 88 fdV California, 78 for Wyoming 77 for Arizona, the three top ranking states. Wyoming had $10,501,000 of its Federal aid spent or obligated under contract, con-tract, Montana had $7,771,000, or 32, and Idaho $6,122,000, or 42. Utah spent $2,587,825 for state highway maintenance during the fiscal year 1948, compared with $2,679,353 in 1947, and $2,102,373 in 1946. The three-year three-year total for repair and maintenance main-tenance of the existing road system was $7,389,551, or 38 of the total outlay for construction and maintenance. The Utah Foundation analysis states that Utah's maintenance cost represents a larger proportion propor-tion of the total spent for maintenance main-tenance and construction than m any of six western states for which comparable data was available for this study (Wyoming, (Wyom-ing, Colorado, Nevada, Oregon. California, and Arizona). Of the total expended for maintenance main-tenance and construction, Oregon Ore-gon spent 35 for maintenance: Nevada, 21; Colorado, 29; Wyoming and Arizona, 19; and California, 17. Of the states cited, Wyoming and Colorado Colo-rado have maintenance problems most nearly comparable to those in Utah. Reviewing the financial outlook out-look for 1949, the Utah Foundation Founda-tion study indicates that tota! revenue for the Highway Department De-partment for 1949 will be approximately ap-proximately $13,000,000 including $1,429,000 balance carried over in the Highway Road Funds from fiscal 1948. If 1949 expenditures follow a similar pattern to that of 1948 and $6,500,000 is spent on Federal Aid construction pro jects, Utah state highway expen ditures will total approximateh $13,000,000, or almost exactly the total revenue available from all sources including the balance on hand.