If the construction department doesn't spend 100% of the money allocated to projects within the year (or doesn't go beyond that budget), then the higher ups assume that they don't need as much money for the next year. A smart construction department will spend ALL of its money by July of each year to avoid this kind of negative future impact to their budget. There's also some pretty ridiculous maintenance moratoriums in place throughout holidays now due to phone service being offered. I think they'll probably shut down as of the Friday before Xmas and not start up again until 1/2/08 - nothing to do with $, but they can't dig during that time in a lot of places...
This is CABL.com posting #205224. Tiny Link: cabl.co/m1ye