Published: July 01, 2009 08:08 pm      

Road home costs more

CHARLESTON — Motorists cruising the West Virginia Turnpike must dig deeper into their wallets Aug. 1, but the highway’s governing board agreed Wednesday to provide higher discounts by paying off Tamarack’s bonds sooner than expected.

In a meeting shifted to the Charleston Civic Center, the West Virginia Parkways Authority voted unanimously to hike tolls from $1.25 per barrier to $2 for passenger cars, and from $4.25 to $6.75 for commercial rigs, unless drivers take advantage of two levels of discounts.

Two lawmakers joined a like number of Mercer County constituents in opposing the first toll increase since 1981 in a meeting that attracted a media explosion.

Under the glare of television lights and the whir of still cameras, the board then approved a new $70,432,000 budget, reflecting the extra $20 million in revenues it expects to be generated by the toll increases.

“I don’t think there’s a member of this board who wants to do this, but we have a responsibility we have to do,” member Cam Lewis said, just before the authority agreed to defease the remaining $6,250,000 in bonded indebtedness at Tamarack, the mecca for West Virginia artisans near the Beckley exit.

For the past two years, the authority has been seeking a means of easing out of the Tamarack obligation, since Gov. Joe Manchin limited its scope exclusively to maintaining the 88-mile toll road.

That plan called for Tamarack to be turned over to the Department of Commerce, but afterward, Turnpike Manager Greg Barr wasn’t sure just when this could occur, even with the board’s plan to satisfy its bond within 90 days.

“We still have to provide a $1 million a year subsidy for operation,” he said. “We’re going to be providing money for Tamarack until something else is worked out.”

Barr said the board couldn’t dip into its economic development and tourism fund to retire Tamarack’s bonds earlier because its balance wasn’t large enough until the June 1 debt service was made. The fund now stands at $6.8 million, or about $600,000 above the amount needed for defeasance.

For more than a year, the authority has been moving slowly and unabatedly toward a toll increase, and before it finally became a reality, in the aftermath of four public hearings that often drew hostile talk, and engineering and traffic studies that led to the conclusion more revenues are needed, the opposition issued one last challenge.

“Why haven’t you gone after all the funds that truly are available?” asked Bluefield attorney Morris Kantor, making an allusion to federal stimulus cash and some $10 million the turnpike helps draw down for Interstate roads.

“Why haven’t you done your homework? That’s why the people of southern West Virginia are truly angry and upset with each and every one of you.”

Another Mercer County resident, Brenda Miller, said the higher tolls would be burdensome to the annual $63,000 budget of a non-profit seniors group, which sets aside money to cover only two round trips to Charleston at existing rates.

Senate Minority Leader Don Caruth, R-Mercer, one of the more vocal opponents in the Legislature, warned the board the higher fares would put businesses in his district at an unfair disadvantage with those across West Virginia where no one pays to ride.

“We in southern West Virginia have been penalized terribly under this circumstance,” the attorney told the board.

“We’re being treated as second-class citizens. We have been for a long time. To add insult to injury would be a toll increase here.”

Caruth said the increase would “doom maybe for a whole generation” of residents in his region by having to compete on an uneven playing field with counties that don’t pay to drive on roads in their home areas.

By paying Tamarack off early, however, the board said it could apply $1,440,000 toward the road, opening the door to provide a bigger discount.

Originally, the board eyed a passenger discount of $1.50 per barrier for cars for frequent users, but managed to drop that to $1.30 for people using the new plan that calls for them to pay $5 a year, along with a refundable, $10 deposit on a transponder, then deduct each trip through a pre-arranged credit card account.

For those using the $25 per barrier E-ZPass per quarter plan, there is no change. A state-issued E-ZPass for commercial trucks lowers the per-barrier toll to $5.40 from the cash price of $6.75, and out-of-state passes will drop the charge to $5.87.

Discounts allowed for commercial vehicles will cost the turnpike an estimated $1,054,000 annually, while those for cars will deprive the road of $357,000 in tolls, or a total of $1,411,000.

“So, that’s pretty darn close,” Barr said, noting the end of Tamarack’s bonds would free up some $1,440,000 in revenues.

While the Tamarack move was unanimous, board member Victor Grigoraci had reservations about depleting the economic and tourism fund.

“I’m reluctant to take that cushion and use it in that fashion,” he said.

Before the vote, bond counsel Roger Hunter covered a lengthy resolution outlining the history of 1989 bonding that called for the Division of Highways to pour $658 million to upgrade it to a four-lane road to meet Interstate standards.

Transportation Secretary Paul Mattox, obviously stung by waves of criticism from southern lawmakers, said the DOH spread $194 million into southern West Virginia projects — far more than the turnpike would have received had it gotten the near-$10 million annually in interstate money.

Money was spent on enlarging the turnpike in the 1980s to the “detriment” of other regions of the state, he said.

The turnpike was completed in 1954 at a cost of $133 million, and a toll was imposed before the interstate system was created, it was pointed out.

By law, tolls are targeted to end in 2019 once the outstanding bonds are satisfied, and Grigoraci said the board needs to look seriously at the impact of dismantling toll plazas and dealing with some 200 toll collectors who would be thrown out of work.

“We have a looming liability,” he said.

“We should look at it soon before Mr. Mattox gets the keys to the Turnpike.”