Governor Corzine more than doubled tolls last month on the New Jersey Turnpike and Parkway, in part to finance an illegal plan to pay $1.25 billion of the costs of a trans-Hudson rail tunnel. Less than one month later, NJ Transit officials are saying the tunnel cost-projections used by the Corzine administration were wrong and that the estimated costs have risen by $1.1 billion before work has even begun. Senate Republican Leader Tom Kean and Assembly Republican Leader Alex DeCroce today urged Governor Corzine to state publicly whether he plans to raise tolls even more if the costs of tunnel construction continue to rise.
“Republicans have tried again and again to get this governor to budget all the money our state needs for transportation projects,” Senator Kean said. “If the governor had done as we asked last spring, there’d be no question that the tunnel project would be adequately funded. Instead, our state’s overtaxed residents may be faced with yet another call by our governor to raise taxes or tolls. We are asking Governor Corzine to state today whether he will go back for another toll increase to pay for already rising costs of the tunnel, and explain finally how he will replenish the Transportation Trust Fund.”
“Nobody knows how much the cost of this project will grow once work actually commences, but it is already clear that New Jersey cannot afford to pay for this plan without any contribution from New York,” Assemblyman DeCroce said. “It also is clear that the toll hikes adopted last month will not be adequate to support this project and New Jersey taxpayers should watch their wallets because the governor may be coming back for more.”
Kean and DeCroce said they continue to support the tunnel, but will pursue legal options to block the use of tolls to pay for the project, a scheme clearly forbidden by the law governing the New Jersey Turnpike Authority. They urge the governor to instead dedicate fees and other levies already paid by drivers and shippers to transportation projects, and then find savings in the budget from other programs to avoid further tax and toll increases.
“We put a solid, pay-as-you-go transportation funding proposal on the table this spring that would have generated money to support this project without higher tolls,” DeCroce said. “It is time for the governor to reconsider his approach to this issue and to begin listening to the ideas we have put forth.”
“The taxpayer knows the governor has options other than resorting to outrageous borrowing schemes or toll hikes to finance transportation needs,” Senator Kean said. “Other states finance projects without doubling tolls or piling vast sums of debt onto the backs of their children. We need to put an end to poll-driven policies. We need a governor who will lead and be accountable.”
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September 21, 2009
