Guyer Proposes 'Gas Card' Program for Plowers
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Angry snow plow drivers voted in late February to stop plowing until the state coughed up $69 million in back payments and vowed to get tough with the state Highway Department in contract negotiations this spring. A supplemental budget signed Friday included payments for snow plow contractors dating back to January, but the Massachusetts Snow and Ice Contractors Association was reporting Monday that the actual funding may come up short.
Guyer has outlined a gas card program he says will help prevent delayed payments and possibly save the state money. The plan is similar to other state's and would let contractors use MassHighway fuel depots to gas up.
"This program would not only alleviate the upfront financial burden placed onto these contractors for purchasing fuel in order to plow state roads, but would also save taxpayer dollars through consolidated higher-volume purchasing at significantly lower costs," said the Dalton Democrat in a statement Friday.
MassHighway contracts with dozens of private snow plow operators in addition to its own fleet to keep the thousands of state highway roads free of ice and snow. Contractors are reimbursed for their expenses, including labor and fuel costs, months after providing the service. Each year, contractors must wait as supplemental funding is approved by the Legislature to provide the back pay.
This reimbursement system often puts contractors into financial hardship, said Guyer, because most are small businesses with less than 10 employees and, in some cases, were owed over $100,000 in back payments by the state this year.
Guyer presented the plan in a letter to Secretary of Transportation Bernard Cohen last week.
The former purchasing agent for Crane & Co. in Dalton pointed out that the state buys its fuel at a lower per-gallon cost but must reimburse contractors who buy their fuel on the open commercial market at a higher price.
Allowing contractors to gas up at MassHighway depots would alleviate their upfront fuel costs and could end up costing the state less in the end. The amount of fuel used would be verified and deducted from the state's payment to the contractor, essentially paying only the labor costs for the plowing.
"It is bad enough that we are inadvertently putting these contractors into financial jeopardy almost every year by not having the funds readily available to pay them, but at the same time the current system forces us to not spend taxpayer dollars in the most efficient and economic way possible," said Guyer. "It is my hope that MassHighway will be able to come up with a workable solution which, models and perhaps improves what is currently done by other states."
The Administrative Services Division of the Department of Transportation is currently examining Guyer's proposal and plans to report back with their findings.
"This is a double win for the commonwealth; the plow operators will have increased financial security while they keep our roads clear and the taxpayer will win because we will be creating a more economical system which will save the state money," said Guyer.
