JACKSON, Miss. (WJTV) – A new funding model may be on the horizon for the Mississippi Department of Transportation (MDOT).

Mississippi taxpayers already invest $6 billion into Mississippi’s roads and bridges. With MDOT hoping to broaden their revenue sources, they’re looking at creative ways that don’t increase taxes.

“Right now, there’s legislation that’s alive that would revamp the way the lottery money is divvied out. Instead of getting $80 million out of the lottery, we would get 80% of the lottery. There’s the use tax revenue that the state collects, the gaming revenue,” explained MDOT Executive Director Brad White.

The call for more funding comes more than a decade after MDOT closed down a key maintenance system to divert funds to more critical repairs needed across the state.

“That’s why you had places like Highway 49 and Rankin County, I-55, DeSoto County, routes along the coast, I-20 and Warren County and places around here in the Metro Jackson area where you see a lot of traffic,” said White.

The agency has traditionally received funds through Mississippi’s fuel tax. White hopes the Legislature recognizes the urgent need.

“I think it’s time in today’s economy and today’s world that we not keep all our eggs in that one basket. I can’t overstate the necessity of coming up with a new mechanism, a new modern way that we’re going to provide for transportation, so that we can stay ahead of the game rather than always trying to play catch up,” he said.