Remember how we found out the other day that Kip Averitt flies on pricey Texas State airplanes instead of flying more cheaply...like the rest of us do except we have to pay for it out of our own pockets instead of helping through pay for Averitt?

Well. Texas Politics at the Houston Chron ASKED how much it costs to maintain that fleet. Duh. TxDOT has no idea.  And maybe that's on purpose as a way to hide the cost.

I heard back again today. Here's my question, and the answer:

Q: Can you break out the cost of operating and maintaining just the "state fleet" that any agency can use (the 8 airplanes you listed)? A: No, that data does not currently exist. It would be exceptionally time consuming to go through each record of expenditure and to try to assign to a specific aircraft.

TxDOT gave this answer when asked if it breaks even in operating the fleet or if the revenue it collects from agencies must be supplemented by other agency appropriations: "TxDOT is required to cover all direct costs for operations of state aircraft. Capital expenditures are obviously not "reimbursed" or "collected" in a one year time frame. Such costs are amortized over the life of the asset and there for revenues do not equal expenditures in any one year. TxDOT has rates set sufficient to cover all direct costs of operation of this function."

Now go read to see what Jim Dunnam (D-Waco) said.