Ciesla, Wolfe and Holzapfel point out plan nearly triples tolls, primarily to fund just one project
Senator Andrew Ciesla and Assemblymen David Wolfe and Jim Holzapfel, the representatives of District 10, issued this statement after reading about the governor’s endorsement of a Turnpike Commission plan to nearly triple tolls on the New Jersey Turnpike and Garden State Parkway:
“This proposal is as bad as Governor Corzine’s 800% toll hike scheme,” Assemblyman Wolfe said. “It nearly triples tolls largely to pay for one project, a rail tunnel into Manhattan. The toll proposal does nothing to replenish the Transportation Trust Fund that finances projects statewide. Rest assured, the governor and Democratic leadership will call for higher gas and diesel taxes, or even more toll or fee increases, as soon as the November election has passed,” Wolfe said.
“It’s disingenuous to tell the public there is no money for a new rail tunnel when we take far more money from motorists in fees, taxes and tolls than we spend on transportation,” Holzapfel said. “The answer to this problem has always been to spend the money we collect from transportation to fund transportation, and nothing else.”
“In the private sector, the first place we look to finance new projects is lowering our costs and using the savings, not charging customers more,” Ciesla said. “That’s what we must learn to do in state government. This state collects more and spends more per mile on transportation than any other. We have a $33 billion budget that dwarves the budget of neighboring Pennsylvania, a state with a far higher population.
“Transportation projects can be funded without a dime more collected in taxes, tolls or fees. All that’s lacking is leadership that puts the priorities of the people over the demands of the politically connected few,” Ciesla said
To see a Republican plan that finances transportation projects until 2014 without new tolls or taxes, go to www.senatenj.com or www.njassemblyrepublicans.com, and click on the links to the Common Sense Plan for a More Affordable New Jersey.
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June 9, 2008
