Corzine Optimistic About Passage of Toll Plan; Some Discounts and Compromise Possible
TRENTON, NJ (AP / WCBS 880) -- Tolls may increase on New Jersey highways but Gov. Jon S. Corzine on Thursday said drivers who frequent those roads may get discounts under his plan to boost tolls to revamp troubled state finances.
``We will do some things to make it more attractive,'' Corzine said.
In an interview Friday morning, Corzine told WCBS Newsradio 880 that there will be a series of 21 public hearings on the plan - one in each county.
He also told The Associated Press in a Thursday interview that he won't sign legislation approving his plan if it allows governors and legislators to interfere with toll increases and the nonprofit company formed to manage toll roads.
``I'm not going to sign a bill that has that,'' Corzine said.
Corzine said commuters and carpoolers could receive discounts to help blunt the toll increases proposed to begin in 2010.
Corzine wants to increase highway tolls 50 percent in 2010, 2014, 2018 and 2022. Those increases would include adjustments to reflect inflation. After 2022, tolls would increase every four years to also reflect inflation.
The Democratic governor wants to pay at least $16 billion in state debt and provide money for transportation improvements.
Corzine didn't detail potential discounts, but said they would help people who rely most on toll roads, such as residents in Middlesex County - home to the Garden State Parkway, New Jersey Turnpike and Route 440, where tolls would be added.
``There are ways to address some of the inequities,'' Corzine said.
Corzine wants to create a nonprofit agency that would manage the toll highways and issue bonds to bring the state a large cash infusion to pay debt and fund transportation. The bonds would be paid back by increased tolls.
The agency would have a board of directors free from gubernatorial and political influrnce; toll increases would be contracted with investors.
``It's going to be independently governed and it's going to be independently financed,'' Corzine said.
But the Democratic governor predicted protecting the agency from political interference may be his biggest challenge.
``I actually think that is a bigger hurdle than the toll schedule,'' Corzine said.
While Corzine said he may be willing to compromise with lower toll increases and keeping tolls off Route 440, he said preventing legislators and governors from getting involved in the agency's operations is vital to giving investors confidence it will run like a business.
``It will be a deal breaker because it will be a deal breaker in the marketplace,'' Corzine said. ``It will have to be a professional - not a political - board.''
State debt has doubled since 2000, making New Jersey the nation's fourth-most indebted state. The debt consumes about 10 percent of the state budget, a figure Corzine said will rise in coming years and prevent the state from investing in key needs.
The state's transportation fund is also set to run out of money in 2011.
The administration estimates the deal could be worth as much as $37.6 billion, helping it pay off as much as $29.6 billion in toll road, transportation, open space and general debt and provide money for road work.
Corzine said he has ``a little wiggle room'' when it comes to accepting lower toll increases, but said at least half of state debt must be paid.
``I don't expect that everything we asked for we'll get,'' Corzine said. ``That's what democracy is about, but there are thresholds that I'm not going beyond.''
He said tolls should be put on Route 440, but said, ``It is not going to be the make or break piece.''
He said the nonprofit agency will also have authority to try to earn money through other means, including developing property along the roads and even attaching solar panels to sound barriers.
As one example, Corzine, a former Goldman Sachs chairman, noted how European highway rest stops are shopping attractions, rather than ``places that you would seek to avoid.''
``There's no reason that they have to be the dredges of the Earth,'' Corzine said. ``They're very valuable pieces of property.''
Corzine also wants to freeze state spending in the coming budget, limit spending growth to revenue growth and have voters approve most state borrowing.
If the Legislature doesn't approve the spending growth limit, Corzine said he would implement it through an executive order ``which would be very hard for subsequent governors to step away from and then claim they're being fiscally responsible.''
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