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COLUMBIA -- Finding more money to repair and build South Carolina roads is expected to be a major priority for lawmakers returning to work next year.

But some want to see changes at the state Department of Transportation before adding to the agency's $1 billion annual budget.

DOT Chairman Tee Hooper and a spokesman for Gov. Mark Sanford said they want to see reforms before DOT gets more money.

Sanford spokesman Joel Sawyer said any increase in DOT funding needs to wait until a pending Legislative Audit Council report is released and reviewed "so we can determine if the problems that have been reported are just the tip of the iceberg."

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Hooper said DOT "definitely needs more money."

"But I don't think it's appropriate to ask until we can show that we can appropriately manage funds that we already get," he said.

DOT Executive Director Elizabeth Mabry in June declared the giant agency was in a "transportation funding crisis" and asked lawmakers to increase the agency's annual funding by more than $1 billion over the next decade.

Almost all of DOT's money comes from the federal government or state gas taxes, which haven't been raised since 1987.

Hooper triggered lawmakers' call last year for an LAC audit, alleging the agency was being mismanaged.

On Friday, House Speaker Bobby Harrell, whose father is a state highway commissioner, proposed finding up to $200 million annually for the state's beleaguered roadways.

It was the younger Harrell who proposed two years ago diverting some motor vehicle fees to DOT that were going into the state's general fund. The Legislature approved the idea, and the agency will eventually receive $70 million annually in the redirected fees.

But DOT remains in financial trouble, its officials say, squeezed by flat or sinking gas taxes, rising road construction costs and debt payments from an accelerated building program.

Harrell said he will propose that the state's car tax revenue, about $86 million annually, be transferred for use by DOT and the State Infrastructure Bank. He said he is still examining other revenue sources to transfer to the agency. All of the new money would be phased in, he said, so as to lessen its impact on the budget.

Bob Harrell Sr., who chairs the DOT board's committee on finance and administration, said he welcomes the car tax idea but said the agency needs far more. He said he supports an idea that would use half of the state's budget surplus each year for roads.

His son said he would prefer a recurring source of revenue.

Both said they would prefer not to raise the state's gas tax. The speaker said $200 million in added funding, when combined with the $70 million in redirected fees, would equal an increase of 9 cents in the state's gas tax.

The governor has said repeatedly that the agency should fall under restructuring, to make it more accountable. Sanford said that in 47 other states, the governor appoints either the transportation agency's director or its board. In South Carolina, the governor appoints the board chairman. The other six members are appointed by the Legislature.

The speaker said while he agrees DOT should be more accountable, he doesn't think lawmakers should wait another year before addressing the state's roads needs.

"We need to do something about the state's roads maintenance as quickly as we can," he said. "But I agree that the department ought to be reformed before they get any more money."

Sen. Larry Martin, a Pickens Republican, said he supports the concept of dedicating a revenue stream for roads. But he said he would be cautious in diverting another source of general-fund money while the state is trying to raise its credit rating.

"I don't want to see us get in more trouble undermining the integrity of the general fund," he said. The chairman of the Senate Finance Committee last week appointed a special committee to review the LAC report, saying it probably would affect the budget next year.

The DOT board has discussed a draft version of the LAC report twice behind closed doors. Last week the LAC ordered staff to rewrite the report, which remains secret until its public release. Officials expected it to be published by the middle of November.