PHOENIX -- The Arizona Department of Transportation would lay off at least half its staff and close all remaining rest areas and nearly all Motor Vehicle Division field offices if spending cuts are chosen to close a big budget gap, the department said in a new report.
"It's going to be real bad, it takes forever now, I can't imagine if they close some more of them," said MVD patron John Chapman.
The department has already taken a 20 percent budget cut for the fiscal year, prompting it to take cost-cutting measures that include closing most rest areas and one in five MVD offices.
But the report released late Monday said the impact from an additional 15 percent cut would go much farther.
"We're at that point now that we're making moves that drivers are going to be noticing more and more," said ADOT spokesman Doug Nintzel.
The report was one of the last due from a major agency under Gov. Jan Brewer's September directive that agencies describe impacts if lawmakers insist on a cuts-only approach to closing the state's midyear budget gap.
Brewer is pitching a temporary sales tax increase to increase state revenue and reduce the size of budget cuts.
According to the report, "all but a few" of the 61 MVD offices would be closed, and all rest area operations would be suspended.
Other impacts listed in the report include suspension of all highway maintenance work except for emergency responses, reduced frequencies of snowplowing, and layoffs of up to 2,400 employees, which is roughly 50 to 60 percent of the department's current work force.
The department previously eliminated 450 jobs through attrition.
"This would be devastating, but we're pointing out the reality of things, here are some things that potentially could be cut," said Nintzel.
ADOT also said it would be difficult to maintain current operations of the state-owned Grand Canyon Airport and Arizona Highways magazine, the monthly publication whose glossy photos promote the state's natural beauty.
Because the hypothetical 15 percent cut would come roughly halfway through the fiscal year that began July 1, it would actually amount to a 30 percent cut of funding still unspent, the report said.
"Staffing cuts of this size are unprecedented, and if implemented, would be devastating to the department, our employees and our customers," Director John Halikowski wrote.
The midyear budget shortfall had been estimated at $1.5 billion, but legislative budget analysts last week raised their projection to $2 billion, or roughly a fifth of a budget that includes $1.1 billion funded through federal stimulus dollars.
