ASSEMBLY, No STATE OF NEW JERSEY. 210th LEGISLATURE INTRODUCED JUNE 16, 2003

Transcription

1 ASSEMBLY, No. STATE OF NEW JERSEY 0th LEGISLATURE INTRODUCED JUNE, 00 Sponsored by: Assemblyman ALEX DECROCE District (Morris and Passaic) Assemblywoman ROSE MARIE HECK District (Bergen) Co-Sponsored by: Assemblyman Bodine, Assemblywoman McHose, Assemblymen Gregg, Corodemus, S.Kean, Azzolina, Pennacchio, Wolfe, Malone, Conover, Thompson, Altamuro, Holzapfel, Rooney, Bateman, Doherty, Carroll, Merkt, Munoz, Bramnick, O'Toole, Fraguela, Chatzidakis, Dancer and Assemblywoman Vandervalk SYNOPSIS Removes tolls from the Garden State Parkway. CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT As introduced.

2 A DECROCE, HECK AN ACT removing tolls from the Garden State Parkway and supplementing P.L., c. (C.:- et seq.). BE IT ENACTED by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:. As used in this act: "Garden State Parkway" or "Parkway" means the Garden State Parkway created pursuant to section 0 of P.L., c. (C.:B- 0). "New Jersey Turnpike Authority" or "authority" means the authority created pursuant to P.L., c. (C.:- et seq.). "Parkway tolls" means tolls charged at plaza toll booths and ramp toll booths to motorists using the Garden State Parkway. "Parkway Tolls Equivalency Fund" or "fund" means the fund established by the New Jersey Turnpike Authority in accordance with section of this act. "Transfer Date" means the date, pursuant to section of P.L.00, c. (C.:-) upon which the Chair of the authority and the Commissioner of Transportation certify to the Governor that: (i) all bonds issued by the New Jersey Highway Authority cease to be outstanding within the meaning of the resolutions pursuant to which those bonds were issued; and (ii) upon which the authority assumes all debts, and statutory responsibilities and obligations of the New Jersey Highway Authority.. On or before one year after the Transfer Date or the date of enactment of this act whichever is later, the New Jersey Turnpike Authority shall: a. Cease the collection of tolls on the Garden State Parkway, and b. Implement a three-year plan which shall result in the removal of all toll plazas and toll barriers from the Parkway.. On or after the effective date of this act, no resolution or other action of the authority or of the New Jersey Highway Authority providing for the issuance of bonds, refunding bonds, notes or other obligations which pledge revenues from Parkway tolls shall be adopted or otherwise made effective by the authority or the New Jersey Highway Authority.. On or after the Transfer Date, the authority shall not authorize expenditures for any new projects, new facilities or new equipment for the purposes of, or related to, the collection of Parkway tolls. The authority may only authorize expenditures related to the collection of tolls on the Parkway which are necessary for the maintenance and continued operation of existing toll collection equipment and facilities

3 A DECROCE, HECK until the authority has ceased to collect Parkway tolls in accordance with section of this act.. a. If, on or after the Transfer Date, there are any outstanding bonds, refunding bonds, notes or other obligations which pledge revenues from Parkway tolls, the authority shall establish a special fund to be entitled the "Parkway Tolls Equivalency Fund." The authority shall annually deposit in the fund an amount equivalent to the revenue from the Parkway tolls collected during the calendar year preceding the effective date of this act. The sources for the annual deposit in the fund may include the annual savings realized from the abolishment of the New Jersey Highway Authority and the consolidation of the New Jersey Turnpike and the Parkway, the annual savings realized from the elimination of the cost of collecting tolls on the Parkway, and the savings realized from the elimination of projects to install new toll collection equipment. b. Except as provided in subsection d. of this section, all monies deposited in the fund shall be dedicated and applied exclusively to the retirement of any outstanding bonds, refunding bonds, notes or other obligations for which the revenues from Parkway tolls have been pledged. The debt service payments from the fund shall be in an amount equivalent to the amount that would have been provided from the Parkway tolls for debt service. c. The annual deposits into the fund by the authority shall continue until all bonds, refunding bonds, notes or other obligations for which the revenues from Parkway tolls have been pledged have been paid or a sufficient amount for the payment thereof and the interest thereon, until maturity, has been deposited in the fund and set aside in trust for the benefit of the bondholders, at which time the fund shall be abolished. d. Any amount remaining in the fund after the annual debt service payments required to be made pursuant to this section may be made available to the authority for any of its costs or expenses, including the costs of maintaining and operating the Parkway.. This act shall take effect immediately. STATEMENT This bill requires that not later than one year after the New Jersey Highway Authority is abolished or one year after the effective date of this act, whichever is later, the New Jersey Turnpike Authority (the "authority") shall cease collecting tolls on the Garden State Parkway and implement a plan to remove all toll barriers within three years. This bill prohibits the authority or the Highway Authority (while it

4 A DECROCE, HECK is in existence) from issuing any bonds, notes or other obligations which pledge the revenues from Parkway tolls. The authority is also prohibited from authorizing any expenditures for new projects, facilities or equipment for the collection of Parkway tolls. The authority may only authorize expenditures necessary to continue operation of existing toll collection equipment until the time when the tolls end. The authority is required to establish a "Parkway Tolls Equivalency Fund." Under this bill, the authority is required to make an annual deposit into the fund in an amount equivalent to the Parkway tolls collected during the calendar year preceding the effective date of the bill. The purpose of the equivalency payments is to retire any outstanding bonds, refunding bonds, notes or other obligations for which Parkway tolls are pledged. The sources for the annual deposit in the fund may include the annual savings realized from the abolishment of the New Jersey Highway Authority and the consolidation of the New Jersey Turnpike and the Parkway, the annual savings realized from the elimination of the cost of collecting tolls on the Parkway, and the savings realized from the elimination of projects to install new toll collection equipment. The monies deposited in the fund may only be used for the retirement of outstanding bonds, refunding bonds, notes or other obligations for which the Parkway tolls have been pledged. However, after the annual debt service payment is made, the revenues remaining may be used by the Turnpike Authority for its costs and expenses, including the costs of maintaining and operating the Parkway. Debt service payments from the fund shall be in an amount equivalent to the debt service payments that would have been made from the Parkway tolls. The annual deposits into the fund shall continue until all bonds and other obligations for which the Parkway tolls have been pledged have been paid or a sufficient amount for all remaining payments has been deposited in the fund and set aside in trust for the benefit of the bondholders. Governor McGreevey promised, during his campaign for election, that he would remove the tolls from the Parkway; instead, his administration is moving ahead with plans to spend $ million to install more toll collection equipment on the Parkway - a sure sign that there is no intention whatsoever to remove the tolls from the Parkway. This bill would end tolls on the Parkway. According to the administration's predictions, consolidation of the Parkway and the Turnpike will produce nearly $0 million in savings the first two years, $. million the third year and about $. million a year thereafter. These savings should go into the "Parkway Tolls Equivalency Fund" established by this bill. The savings from the elimination of the costs of collecting the tolls

5 A DECROCE, HECK 0 should also go into the fund. Citizens Against Tolls estimates these savings to be almost $00 million annually. According to news reports, administration officials estimate that it will cost between $ million and $ million per toll plaza to install Express E-ZPass equipment. The millions that are to be spent for new toll collection equipment could instead go into the fund. When the high cost of labor and equipment to collect the tolls is considered, along with the frustration and the waste of time caused by delays at the toll barriers, the accidents that occur every year at the toll barriers, and the damage to the environment from the exhaust of vehicles idling in traffic congestion - all to collect a cent toll - it only makes sense to take advantage of the savings and efficiencies achieved by the toll road consolidation to remove the tolls from the Parkway.