The Idaho Transportation Department has announced that it’s cutting its budget by $9 million and reducing administrative costs an additional $1.6 million, by transferring 18 administrative positions to “such critical services as bridge inspection, snowplowing, and road and bridge maintenance.” Pam Lowe, ITD director, said the agency is acting in accordance with Gov. Butch Otter’s direction to all state agencies to “act prudently and cautiously with taxpayer dollars.” Though ITD wasn’t subject to Otter’s newly ordered budget holdbacks because it receives no state general funds, the governor also ordered the agency to cut its administrative costs by 6 percent; the transfer accomplishes that. The other cuts are because of “declining revenue from the state’s fuel tax and economic slowdown,” the department said. Click below to read the full announcement from ITD.

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