WATERLOO -- A plan to cover a multibillion dollar budget shortfall in the Department of Transportation received backing from administrators in several northeast Iowa cities during a special legislative forum Friday.

Members of the Senate State Transportation Committee were in Waterloo as part of a series of meetings around the state to gauge opinions on the transportation plan called Transportation Investment Moves the Economy in the 21st Century, or TIME 21. About 30 people -- many from city or county government -- showed up to discuss the plan.

The plan asks the Legislature to create a fund to bridge a $27.7 billion gap between the money needed to repair the state's deteriorating transportation system and the current levels of revenue received by the state. Current funding streams, like the state's road use tax fund, haven't been able to address the needs of the transportation network, said Sen. Tom Rielly, D-Oskaloosa.

"The fact of the matter is we're going to run out of money in 2015 to build roads," said Rielly, transportation committee chairman.

Changes in the state's funding formulas haven't changed in nearly 20 years, transportation officials said.

Funding sources for the TIME 21 plan would include:

-- A gas tax increase. The tax was last increased in 1989, but construction costs and inflation have since increased dramatically. The state also does not collect more money when gasoline prices increase. The tax also could be linked to an inflation index.

-- Higher motor vehicle registration fees, including possibly raising the flat $65 registration fee for pickup trucks. The fee originally was established on the premise that the trucks were used for farm operations, but only a minority today are used on the farm.

-- Increasing driver's license fees.

-- A "per mile tax" based on the number of miles a vehicle travels in the state. A federal pilot program will be implemented soon in six areas of the country, including eastern Iowa, to test feasibility of this system, said Stuart Anderson of the DOT.

The plan also includes other alternative funding sources, such as toll roads, assessing development impact fees, allowing private participation in transportation projects and issuing revenue bonds.

Buchanan County Engineer Brian Keierleber said some counties are already feeling the pressure from decreased funding.

Keierleber oversees 257 bridges and more than 200,000 miles of roads in Buchanan County. Funding for bridge or road repairs is falling about $550,000 short of what he needs to keep everything updated.

Frank Magsamen, Black Hawk County supervisor, said the funding gap is exacerbated by the fact that road repairs haven't kept pace with the size of heavy machinery like semitractors and large farm equipment.

That will only become a greater problem as more ethanol or biodiesel plants develop, since most of the plants aren't located along priority county roads. About 1.4 million truckloads of corn will be needed to keep just the existing ethanol plants going in one year, Rielly said.

"It's going to do nothing but explode, and we have to be prepared," he said.

Ralph Kremer, Buchanan County supervisor, said he thought it was time legislators looked beyond their own political careers and at the good of the state.

"At least you can say I got a good project and I done my best," he said.

Contact Josh Nelson at (319) 291-1565 or josh-nelson@wcfcourier.com.