The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Report: States find tolls a road to revenue
HARTFORD — As Connecticut scrambles to find new revenue to plug deficits and resolve an ongoing budget stalemate, neighboring states are bringing in hundreds of millions of dollars a year from highway tolls.
An Office of Legislative Research report issued this month shows that Massachusetts garnered $395 million from tolls last year, while New York State pocketed $708 million and Maine took in $133 million.
A provision tucked into the most recent state budget crafted by the General Assembly’s majority Democrats, and supported by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, contains a pathway to highway tolls through a new Connecticut Transportation Finance Authority.
The authority is specifically empowered to implement statewide highway tolling — which some believe could bring in as much as $900 million a year — as well as oversee highway improvement and upgrade projects.
Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff, DNorwalk, said Democratic leaders stand
by the transportation authority.
“I’m not a big fan of tolls, but I endorse the transportation authority,” Duff said. “Transportation has been neglected for too long. This allows us to focus on it and take the politics out.”
Republicans are adamantly opposed to tolls and the transportation authority, saying it’s a way to go around the General Assembly, which has consistently rejected bills authorizing highway tolls.
“It’s a way to circumvent the legislative process without having to go to us,” said state Sen. Toni Boucher, R-Wilton. “I am utterly opposed.”
The transportation authority — and the possibility of tolls it represents — went down in flames nearly two weeks ago when eight Democrats defected and endorsed a Republican spending plan. The GOP budget, however, was vetoed Thursday by Malloy.
Democratic leaders are expected to push for the transportation authority during negotiations with Republicans and Malloy over a compromise budget.
Big money
The report by OLR, a non-partisan research office that answers questions from legislators, adds fuel to the argument that tolls are a reliable way to pour money into state coffers.
The New England states — except Vermont — installed highways tolls years ago, along with neighboring states. Many of those systems have been upgraded to electronic tolling, which scans cars as they pass underneath, eliminating booths that back up traffic and can cause accidents.
For example, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey brought in $1.9 billion in toll revenue last year; Pennsylvania $1 billion; New Jersey $1.6 billion; and Rhode Island $20 million, the OLR report shows.
Revenue projections for statewide tolling in Connecticut vary, with some estimates placing the take at $900 million a year. A study commissioned by the state ranged from a high of $62 billion over 25 years to $5 billion if only $2 border tolls were established.
Chris Collibee, a spokesman for Malloy, said a new revenue source is needed if the state is to improve its vital transportation system, noting gas tax revenue continues to fall as cars become more fuel efficient and electric vehicles become more popular.
“Our businesses depend on our roads to get their employees to work and their goods to market,” Collibee said. “If we are going to preserve and grow those jobs, we must consider a wide range of transportation funding options.”
Malloy, who in the past wavered over tolls and never fully endorsed the revenue source, supported the Democratic budget before it was defeated.
From page A1