Post by Clipper on Aug 23, 2012 11:37:47 GMT -5
www.uticaod.com/opinions/editorials/x218317017/OUR-VIEW-Thruway-toll-hike-for-trucks-needs-re-thinking
OUR VIEW: Thruway toll hike for trucks needs re-thinking
Observer-Dispatch
Posted Aug 23, 2012 @ 10:21 AM
New York state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli is right. The New York Thruway Authority needs to look within for savings before it jacks up truck tolls on the 496-mile interstate.
The Thruway is $14 billion in debt, according to the Authorities Budget Office, a watchdog agency. A report the agency issued in July says that debt rose 10 percent over last year alone. If this was private industry, it’d be looking for a new CEO.
Hiking truck tolls doesn’t just affect truckers and the companies they serve. It affects us all. If a trucker has to pay more to haul freight, you can bet that it’ll cost the owner of that freight more to have it hauled. If it costs the owner more, it’ll cost the retailer more, and if it costs the retailer more … you get the idea.
And if the price of hauling goods goes out of sight, some of those trucks just might stop coming to New York state. The ripple effect of that loss of business could be staggering.
Thruway Executive Director Thomas Madison argues that the increase in tolls will help repair damage caused by the big trucks. That’s a valid point, but a report by DiNapoli trumps that, noting that declining traffic and unalterable rising costs are to blame.
DiNapoli also said the Authority doesn’t prioritize its capital projects sufficiently and needs to find a cheaper way to maintain the state canal system, which has been part of the Authority since 1992. Finally, DiNapoli said that 130 of the Thruway Authority’s 3,293 employees were paid more than $100,000 annually, with an average of more than $53,000.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo agrees a toll hike should be a last resort. He says the organization needs to be run more efficiently. Well, he appointed Madison. Maybe they need to talk.
A big part of the problem is that oversight of public authorities is limited. Their budgets are not part of the state budget. According to the Office of the state Comptroller, more than 94 percent of all state-funded debt outstanding was issued by public authorities without voter approval.
One who does have oversight over certain public authorities under the Public Authorities Reform Act of 2009 is the state comptroller. That’s why DiNapoli’s report should carry some clout. The Thruway Authority needs to listen.
I have thought for a long time, as have many other folks, that the toll should be eliminated on the Thruway and that the "authority" should be disbanded.
It simply seems to me that there would be a major savings by simply doing away with the cost of the employees and the duplicated services provided by the maintenance folks that could just as easily be performed by the NYSDOT, such as snow plowing and mowing.
As for the Canal, that should be a separate issue entirely. Why the hell should an out of state trucking company be charged an increased toll to pay for yacht owners to lock through from the Hudson to Lake Erie with their pleasure boats?
In my opinion, NY State has too many "authorities." The authority concept" is rife with opportunity for corruption. Just the fact that an authority doesn't come under the state budget process is disturbing.
"A big part of the problem is that oversight of public authorities is limited. Their budgets are not part of the state budget. According to the Office of the state Comptroller, more than 94 percent of all state-funded debt outstanding was issued by public authorities without voter approval."
Other states do just fine maintaining their interstate highways without tolls and without another layer of government bureaucracy or hierarchy. Maintenance costs are better handled under the state budget with a major savings being realized by eliminating that extra layer of costly administration.
Here in the South, Virginia and Tennessee contract out the mowing and snow removal along the interstate highways. That eliminates all those employees that are getting substantial benefit packages and wages, paid by the taxpayers. The grass along the highways gets mowed twice a season, rather than the 4 or 5 times a year that it used to get. TDOT and VDOT actually are seldom seen on the Interstate. They concentrate their efforts on the state roads and the price of contracting a lot of the maintenance functions along the interstate highways has been found to be much cheaper overall.
Am I wrong in my opinion of the "Authority" concept? Even more so, am I wrong in my opinion that the burden for maintaining the canal should not be placed on users of the NYS Thruway? I have felt for years that the Thruway should have been toll free long ago. It seems that if not for the costs of maintaining a toll plaza at each exit, there could be a few more conveniently located exits, such as Whitesboro where trucks and others could have an exit to easily access 840, New Hartford and Oriskany.
OUR VIEW: Thruway toll hike for trucks needs re-thinking
Observer-Dispatch
Posted Aug 23, 2012 @ 10:21 AM
New York state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli is right. The New York Thruway Authority needs to look within for savings before it jacks up truck tolls on the 496-mile interstate.
The Thruway is $14 billion in debt, according to the Authorities Budget Office, a watchdog agency. A report the agency issued in July says that debt rose 10 percent over last year alone. If this was private industry, it’d be looking for a new CEO.
Hiking truck tolls doesn’t just affect truckers and the companies they serve. It affects us all. If a trucker has to pay more to haul freight, you can bet that it’ll cost the owner of that freight more to have it hauled. If it costs the owner more, it’ll cost the retailer more, and if it costs the retailer more … you get the idea.
And if the price of hauling goods goes out of sight, some of those trucks just might stop coming to New York state. The ripple effect of that loss of business could be staggering.
Thruway Executive Director Thomas Madison argues that the increase in tolls will help repair damage caused by the big trucks. That’s a valid point, but a report by DiNapoli trumps that, noting that declining traffic and unalterable rising costs are to blame.
DiNapoli also said the Authority doesn’t prioritize its capital projects sufficiently and needs to find a cheaper way to maintain the state canal system, which has been part of the Authority since 1992. Finally, DiNapoli said that 130 of the Thruway Authority’s 3,293 employees were paid more than $100,000 annually, with an average of more than $53,000.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo agrees a toll hike should be a last resort. He says the organization needs to be run more efficiently. Well, he appointed Madison. Maybe they need to talk.
A big part of the problem is that oversight of public authorities is limited. Their budgets are not part of the state budget. According to the Office of the state Comptroller, more than 94 percent of all state-funded debt outstanding was issued by public authorities without voter approval.
One who does have oversight over certain public authorities under the Public Authorities Reform Act of 2009 is the state comptroller. That’s why DiNapoli’s report should carry some clout. The Thruway Authority needs to listen.
I have thought for a long time, as have many other folks, that the toll should be eliminated on the Thruway and that the "authority" should be disbanded.
It simply seems to me that there would be a major savings by simply doing away with the cost of the employees and the duplicated services provided by the maintenance folks that could just as easily be performed by the NYSDOT, such as snow plowing and mowing.
As for the Canal, that should be a separate issue entirely. Why the hell should an out of state trucking company be charged an increased toll to pay for yacht owners to lock through from the Hudson to Lake Erie with their pleasure boats?
In my opinion, NY State has too many "authorities." The authority concept" is rife with opportunity for corruption. Just the fact that an authority doesn't come under the state budget process is disturbing.
"A big part of the problem is that oversight of public authorities is limited. Their budgets are not part of the state budget. According to the Office of the state Comptroller, more than 94 percent of all state-funded debt outstanding was issued by public authorities without voter approval."
Other states do just fine maintaining their interstate highways without tolls and without another layer of government bureaucracy or hierarchy. Maintenance costs are better handled under the state budget with a major savings being realized by eliminating that extra layer of costly administration.
Here in the South, Virginia and Tennessee contract out the mowing and snow removal along the interstate highways. That eliminates all those employees that are getting substantial benefit packages and wages, paid by the taxpayers. The grass along the highways gets mowed twice a season, rather than the 4 or 5 times a year that it used to get. TDOT and VDOT actually are seldom seen on the Interstate. They concentrate their efforts on the state roads and the price of contracting a lot of the maintenance functions along the interstate highways has been found to be much cheaper overall.
Am I wrong in my opinion of the "Authority" concept? Even more so, am I wrong in my opinion that the burden for maintaining the canal should not be placed on users of the NYS Thruway? I have felt for years that the Thruway should have been toll free long ago. It seems that if not for the costs of maintaining a toll plaza at each exit, there could be a few more conveniently located exits, such as Whitesboro where trucks and others could have an exit to easily access 840, New Hartford and Oriskany.
