The reasons have varied over the years for the state’s failure to provide funding to replace an aging and cramped regional headquarters in Mankato for the Minnesota Department of Transportation.

It appears the project — which is widely supported by area lawmakers and, previously, by Gov. Tim Pawlenty — is going to have to wait once again. Pawlenty is planning to veto the $20.7 million in funding for the new facility, according to his spokesman.

The reason: It’s an odd-numbered year.

Pawlenty spokesman Alex Carey said the Republican governor believes the new facility is needed. But even-numbered years are the ones when the state traditionally passes a large bonding bill to finance construction projects statewide. Odd-numbered years are for setting a two-year state budget, along with a supplemental bonding bill.

That smaller bill should be reserved for “emergency items and consensus items,” Carey said.

“This is neither,” he said, referring to the Mankato MnDOT building.

The replacement for Mankato’s 44-year-old facility, which will be the last regional headquarters to be replaced statewide, has been a high priority for MnDOT in previous bonding proposals. A year ago, Pawlenty said he was backing the project.

“We’re going to push for that,” he said then. “The problem for that — legislators just don’t view it as a glamorous project, one that has sizzle.”

A $334 million bonding bill was passed by both the House and Senate Monday and is on its way to the governor for action. But the bill is about four times too big for the governor’s liking, Carey said.

“He’s extremely concerned about the size,” Carey said.

Pawlenty will either veto the bill in its entirety or line-item veto individual provisions to get the bill down to the approximately $80 million in construction borrowing he proposed earlier in the legislative session. Carey said there would be no contradiction in Pawlenty backing the MnDOT funding a year ago and vetoing it now.

“His support was for bonding in a bonding year,” Carey said.

If that happens, it will delay construction for at least another year on the MnDOT facility — something that also has implications for the city of Mankato.

The city agreed years ago to purchase the current MnDOT headquarters, located at the intersection of Victory Drive and Hoffman Road, to move its scattered public works departments under one roof. But that can’t happen until MnDOT moves to its new facility on the east side of town.

Once the public works department’s move into their new home, the city’s Central Garage, transit buildings and storage lots off of Patterson Avenue will become available for redevelopment. The city is considering a new police station and fire station for part of the land, and a new parkway leading to Sibley Park is also planned.

“This has a lot of ripple effects,” said Mankato City Manager Pat Hentges.

One of the effects of a veto would be leaving MnDOT workers in a facility that’s no longer suited for modern highway equipment, according to Rep. Kathy Brynaert, DFL-Mankato.

“From MnDOT’s perspective, it’s a safety issue,” said Brynaert, chief sponsor of the funding in the House. “The trucks dwarf the space they’re supposed to maneuver in. ... The air quality is not up to standards.”

Even if the funding had been approved this year, an 18-month construction and move-in schedule would have left MnDOT workers and the city in their current buildings through 2008.

A delay may also drive up the price tag for the facility. In 2004 (when the Senate failed to approve funding) the price was $15.7 million. In 2005 (when neither the House nor the Senate included the project in their bonding bills) the cost was $16.6 million. By 2006 (when both bodies included the funding in their transportation bills but couldn’t reach consensus on other parts of the bill) the cost had risen to $18.2 million.