Tappan Zee Toll Boost May Hurt N.Y. Business, DiNapoli Says
A proposal to almost triple tolls on a new Tappan Zee
Bridge over the Hudson River and raise rates for truckers on the New York
Thruway would be bad for business, state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said.
The New York Thruway Authority’s operating costs have
increased 36 percent over the last decade as annual debt-service payments
doubled to $181.9 million, DiNapoli said in a report released today. The
58-year-old Democrat asked the authority to consider all options before raising
tolls.
“Imposing a large toll increase could have damaging
effects on consumers and businesses at a time when many New Yorkers are
struggling to recover from the recession,” DiNapoli said in an e-mailed
statement. “The Thruway should do more before relying on yet another toll hike to
make ends meet.”
In May, the authority said it planned to boost by 45
percent the tolls paid by trucks on the Thruway, the longest U.S. toll system.
It would be the fifth increase since 2005. Governor Andrew Cuomo’s
administration said this month that tolls on a new $5.2 billion Tappan Zee may
triple to $14 when the span opens in 2017.
The two potential toll boosts have put political pressure
on Cuomo. Last week, he sent a letter to the authority asking it to find ways
to reduce the increase on the new Tappan Zee. He’s been less vocal about the
plan for trucks, saying he’s waiting until after public hearings to weigh in.
The first of those hearings is scheduled for tomorrow in Buffalo.
“The raising of tolls, more revenue for government,
should always be a last resort,” Cuomo said at a press conference in Albany
today. “There has been a tremendous amount of mismanagement at the Thruway
Authority for many years, and there’s been a tremendous amount of waste. The
team that I’ve just put in is trying to rectify that.”
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