DiNapoli audit: No Thruway toll hike
State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli said Sunday the Thruway Authority should call off its next round of toll increases and added, the agency "could manage its finances a whole lot better."
DiNapoli made his recommendation in a highly anticipated audit saying the agency should postpone future hikes until it has conducted a thorough analysis of its expenses and operations and prioritized capital projects.
The audit examined whether the calculations used in justifying four proposed toll increases along the highway in July 2008, January 2009, July 2009 and January 2010 were accurate and reasonable.
"It's easy to raise tolls, but the Thruway Authority should take a hard look in the mirror before it pushes another toll hike on New Yorkers," DiNapoli said. "Toll hikes are not warranted until the Thruway Authority examines its own spending. The Thruway is too important to the upstate economy to unnecessarily raise tolls and drive up the cost of everything from milk to heating oil, not to mention the impact on commuters."
Tolls on the thruway were also raised earlier this month, which sparked an outcry from motorists and elected officials.
"Comptroller DiNapoli is to be commended for investigating and bringing to light Thruway Authority mismanagement that many of us have long suspected to be true," said Rep. Brian Higgins, D-Buffalo. "Travelers along the Thruway are forced to pay for maintenance and improvements twice, once in the federal gas tax, which is paid by consumers and passed down to the Authority, and again through tolls.
Higgins, a former state Assemblyman, said the audit should be used to make sweeping reforms within the Thruway Authority.
In a response, the Thruway Authority generally agreed with the facts of the audit but disagreed with many of the conclusions, according to the comptroller creditreports.
The Thruway Authority board is considering a series of toll increases that would take effect from July 2008 through January 2010. The board will be holding hearings on the proposed hikes. These proposed toll increases are expected to generate a total of $520 million in additional revenue.
Tolls account for more than 90 percent of the Thruway Authority's operating revenue. The comptroller's report said in 2006, $554.4 million was collected at toll booths.
Thruway Authority officials say the revenue is needed to cover cash shortfalls projected over the next five years caused by a reduction in traffic growth and an increase in the use of E-ZPass discounts. Part of the revenue is also needed for the agency's $2.7 billion capital plan, which extends through 2011.
The comptroller's audit noted the agency significantly underestimated federal funding and has not taken aggressive cost-cutting measures. DiNapoli also said the Thruway Authority failed to collect $27.5 million in unpaid tolls and penalties over a six-year period, pointing out that one out-of-state trucking company was cited for 2,226 violations and owes $59,159 in unpaid tolls.
As he released the audit, DiNapoli also recommended that the state's canal system be removed from the Thruway Authority's operations and that a feasible, long-term solution for financing, managing and planning the future of the canal system be developed. The Thruway Authority took control of the canal system in the 1990s.