Delaware's Department of Transportation's total operating budget for 2026 is up about 3% from the previous year.
Compared to 15 years ago, the department’s 2026 operating budget is about $100 million more than 2020’s.
That’s according to DelDOT's Transportation Secretary Shanté Hastings. During the Delaware Task Force on Sustainable Transportation Funding's January meeting, she presented the department’s costs.
She said costs are up across projects and services it provides, but a couple of factors contribute to the increases.
The first she listed was healthcare costs for Delaware Department of Transportation employees.
The department pays about $21,000 in healthcare per full time employee every year; that’s $10,000 dollars more than it was paying per employee fifteen years ago.
"We do try really hard to make sure that we're not expanding in terms of asking for a ton of new positions," she said. "Because obviously that also affects our operating costs."
The department has 59 more people on staff than it did 15 years ago.
Taskforce member and State rep. Richard Collins (R-Millsboro) noted a $30,000 a year employee salary is just half the expense of having that person on staff. Between other staff costs and healthcare, the department spends about $60,000 a year to employ them.
Hastings said Delaware Department of Transportation spending on contracts is another of the driving factors in its operational budget increases.
In the last 15 years, the department nearly doubled its operational budget for contracts, from $23 million to nearly $46 million.
It costs more to bring contractors to the table for projects, Hastings said.
"And in some cases, we haven't been able to fill a position," she said. "So we've had to bring on a contractor to be able to do that work."
Hastings said projects the department hires contractors for include app development or technology repairs.
Another overall contributor to costs, she said, is increased regulation and best practices DelDOT and contractors are asked to follow, such as environmental approvals, zoning, and building codes.
To alleviate some of these issues, DelDOT wants to to more in house and hybrid consulting work for projects.
DelDOT's also created a new division, called Economic Development Coordination. Hastings said this puts people involved in plan review and construction of a project under the same director. She said this should streamline administration and improve understanding as a project moves between groups.
