As the state once again finds itself in a fiscal hole, legislators scramble to offer new (or in this case, not so new) ways to raise much-needed revenue for the state.
With expected cuts to state and municipal aid at the federal level and a budget storm rumbling in Hartford, Rep. Pat Dillon, D-New Haven, has again suggested the reinstatement of tolls in Connecticut.
In response, the state will begin two studies on the feasibility and effects of restoring tolls on I-84 West near Hartford and I-95 between New Haven and New York.
The potential funds generated from these tolls would be utilized to update and maintain Connecticut’s aging infrastructure.
And, unfortunately, such funds are sorely needed. According to State Transportation Commissioner James Redeker, the state DOT’s five-year capital plan amounts to $6 billion in improvements, with an additional $15 billion to $20 billion on the “to do” list. Included on that list are approximately 2,000 bridges (roughly half of the bridges in Connecticut) pending repairs or maintenance.
For these reasons, the idea of reinstating tolls is not to be dismissed immediately; tolls may be an appropriate source of revenue for fixing Connecticut’s crumbling transportation infrastructure. In addition, states like California have experimented with High Occupancy Tolls as a means to alleviate traffic congestion.
However, many Connecticut residents are skeptical of the toll proposal, and with good reason.
For starters, as of January 1st, 2013 Connecticut had the fourth highest gas tax in the nation (behind New York, California, and Hawaii) at 63.4 cents per gallon. The diesel tax, which is levied on truck drivers driving within the state, was raised in the FY2011-FY2013 budget to 80.6 cents per gallon, the highest in the nation (figures from the American Petroleum Institute’s bi-annual report).
With gas tax revenue purportedly used to maintain transportation infrastructure, and with some of the highest tax rates in the country, the math seems to bode well for Connecticut roads. Why, then, does the state need to collect more money from its drivers to fix its roads and bridges?
The answer is fairly simple. According to a ctmirror.org article from March 2012, approximately $146 million of gasoline tax revenue was expected to end up in the General Fund. This number represents 40% of the tax revenue supposedly reserved for the Transportation Fund. Additionally, in the first five years following a 2005 gas tax hike 60 percent of gas tax revenue, amounting to almost $1.5 billion, was used for non-transportation spending.
For this reason, before Connecticut residents will be willing to bite the bullet on another quasi-tax (in the form of tolls) politicians must stop the political shell games and answer a few questions. How can the funds already being generated be used more effectively? Will toll revenue truly contribute to improving our transportation infrastructure, or just be shiftily diverted to other uses? And, most importantly, will this proposal turn out to be just another political shell game? Because, politicians be warned, those are pretty taxing on our patience.
Zack Albert is an affiliate writer for Raising Hale and posts every Wednesday. He currently studies Political Science, Economics, and History at Fairfield University. He also manages Not The Solution, a limited-government blog found here.