"I am troubled by the direction this tollway board is taking."
North Texas Tollway Authority rate policy splits region
12/23/2005
By Mike Raye
Frisco Enterprise
Copyright 2005
A new policy for setting toll rates on the North Texas Tollway Authority system threw out the concept of regional cooperation Wednesday, replacing it with a bitter disagreement between the board of directors, squeaking by on a 4-3 vote.
Those in favor called it a "solid, regional approach to road building" while opponents called it a "Robin Hood" plan akin to the school finance imbroglio and even went as far as saying it was "fiscal suicide."
As the debate wore on and points grew sharper, some appealed to the spirit of the season for détente.
"Christmas is a season noted for goodwill and sharing, and I support (the policy) because the NTTA is about regionalism and serving our region," said Director Bill Meadows of Fort Worth, the Tarrant County appointee to the board.
"We have been thinking about this for the last four months," said Kay Walls of Cleburne, the Johnson County representative first appointed to the NTTA board by Governor George Bush in 1999 and reappointed by Gov. Perry in 2002. "We were created as a four-county authority to get along together and to unify with each other, not to argue with each other. I am looking forward to the future of our region and the future of moving mobility forward," she said, pleading for consensus in slow, articulated speech.
At the heart of the battle was a disagreement about a Tarrant County project, the Southwest Parkway in Fort Worth, and the President George Bush Turnpike's eastern extension through Rowlett, Sachse, and Garland.
How to fund the two projects through tolls was the point of contention. Directors representing Tarrant, Denton, and Johnson counties supported a plan to keep tolls as low as possible on the two roads, while counterparts from Collin and Dallas counties voted in favor of a measure to establish higher tolls on the projects - 12 cents per mile for the Bush extension and 16 cents per mile for Southwest Parkway - above the current average rate of 10 cents per mile throughout the NTTA network. Collin and Dallas representatives contended the two projects wouldn't generate enough revenue on their own at the current rate and therefore should be higher to keep from penalizing Collin and Dallas tollway drivers - the bulk of NTTA customers.
"Southwest Parkway could end up having the highest toll rate in the United States of America and that does not speak to regionalism," Meadows said.
Meadows was seated next to Paul Wageman, the Collin County appointee to the board. Their body language spoke loudly about the brewing disagreement between regional sectors. When Wageman's microphone went out at the beginning of the meeting, Meadows offered to share his, prompting a sarcastic remark about regionalism and sharing from the Collin County appointee.
"I am troubled by the direction this tollway board is taking," Wageman said. "I think we have lost our way. The significant majority of tollway users come from Dallas and Collin County. This really speaks to the difficulties we will have down the road functioning as a regional authority."
Dallas County Judge Margaret Keliher said the move will set a dangerous precedent, especially with the state considering foreign comprehensive development agreements (CDA) for highway building.
"We have CDAs coming into our region and TxDOT is making deals with counties. What scares me is you will go out and finance projects that are not feasible projects," she said, addressing the board.
"It sets, in my opinion, a bad precedent," said Alan Sims, board appointee from Dallas County. "It almost looks like fiscal suicide. It's like we're saying, 'It doesn't matter what the numbers are; let's move forward.' "
The division in opinions generally fell along an east-west regional dividing line.
Keliher, Wageman, and officials from the eastern part of the NTTA region argued that their constituents make up the majority of NTTA customers and therefore should not have to have their tolls increased by 1 to 3 cents per mile to pay for the $825 million Southwest Parkway in Tarrant County. Tollway officials contend that under the current 10 cents per mile rate the parkway will only raise enough money to pay for 45 percent of its cost. The Dallas North Tollway and the Bush Turnpike tolls paid for 75 percent of their costs in the first years of operation. Southwest Parkway tolls are not expected to pay for it in less than 30 years, officials said.
NTTA statistics show that almost 23 percent of toll transactions come in Denton, Tarrant, and Johnson counties, while Dallas and Collin counties account for as much as 75 percent, based on Toll Tag transactions.
"The real critical part of this is we are a regional authority," said Jack Miller, board vice chairman and Denton County appointee. "We have an obligation as a regional authority to encourage projects in our region, but they have to be sound. They have to have a system-wide soundness."
Under the plan approved by the board - alternative 4 - the "guiding principle" would be that all new NTTA projects would be supported by the NTTA system through "uniform toll rates on all facilities." The existing system of the Dallas North Tollway and the Bush turnpike would increase to 11 cents per mile in 2007 and grow to 12 cents per mile by 2010, a 1.5 percent annual rate change, reviewable after 5 years. The eastern extension of the Bush would open with a 12 cents per mile toll and Southwest Parkway would open with a 16 cents per mile rate, with 1.5 percent annual increases. Tolls on the new projects would be reviewed after five years as well.
According to the NTTA, even without new projects, the authority would consider toll increases in 2007, with a $300- to $400-million capital program coming online in the next eight years.
©Star Community Newspapers 2005 www.zwire.com
12/23/2005
By Mike Raye
Frisco Enterprise
Copyright 2005
A new policy for setting toll rates on the North Texas Tollway Authority system threw out the concept of regional cooperation Wednesday, replacing it with a bitter disagreement between the board of directors, squeaking by on a 4-3 vote.
Those in favor called it a "solid, regional approach to road building" while opponents called it a "Robin Hood" plan akin to the school finance imbroglio and even went as far as saying it was "fiscal suicide."
As the debate wore on and points grew sharper, some appealed to the spirit of the season for détente.
"Christmas is a season noted for goodwill and sharing, and I support (the policy) because the NTTA is about regionalism and serving our region," said Director Bill Meadows of Fort Worth, the Tarrant County appointee to the board.
"We have been thinking about this for the last four months," said Kay Walls of Cleburne, the Johnson County representative first appointed to the NTTA board by Governor George Bush in 1999 and reappointed by Gov. Perry in 2002. "We were created as a four-county authority to get along together and to unify with each other, not to argue with each other. I am looking forward to the future of our region and the future of moving mobility forward," she said, pleading for consensus in slow, articulated speech.
At the heart of the battle was a disagreement about a Tarrant County project, the Southwest Parkway in Fort Worth, and the President George Bush Turnpike's eastern extension through Rowlett, Sachse, and Garland.
How to fund the two projects through tolls was the point of contention. Directors representing Tarrant, Denton, and Johnson counties supported a plan to keep tolls as low as possible on the two roads, while counterparts from Collin and Dallas counties voted in favor of a measure to establish higher tolls on the projects - 12 cents per mile for the Bush extension and 16 cents per mile for Southwest Parkway - above the current average rate of 10 cents per mile throughout the NTTA network. Collin and Dallas representatives contended the two projects wouldn't generate enough revenue on their own at the current rate and therefore should be higher to keep from penalizing Collin and Dallas tollway drivers - the bulk of NTTA customers.
"Southwest Parkway could end up having the highest toll rate in the United States of America and that does not speak to regionalism," Meadows said.
Meadows was seated next to Paul Wageman, the Collin County appointee to the board. Their body language spoke loudly about the brewing disagreement between regional sectors. When Wageman's microphone went out at the beginning of the meeting, Meadows offered to share his, prompting a sarcastic remark about regionalism and sharing from the Collin County appointee.
"I am troubled by the direction this tollway board is taking," Wageman said. "I think we have lost our way. The significant majority of tollway users come from Dallas and Collin County. This really speaks to the difficulties we will have down the road functioning as a regional authority."
Dallas County Judge Margaret Keliher said the move will set a dangerous precedent, especially with the state considering foreign comprehensive development agreements (CDA) for highway building.
"We have CDAs coming into our region and TxDOT is making deals with counties. What scares me is you will go out and finance projects that are not feasible projects," she said, addressing the board.
"It sets, in my opinion, a bad precedent," said Alan Sims, board appointee from Dallas County. "It almost looks like fiscal suicide. It's like we're saying, 'It doesn't matter what the numbers are; let's move forward.' "
The division in opinions generally fell along an east-west regional dividing line.
Keliher, Wageman, and officials from the eastern part of the NTTA region argued that their constituents make up the majority of NTTA customers and therefore should not have to have their tolls increased by 1 to 3 cents per mile to pay for the $825 million Southwest Parkway in Tarrant County. Tollway officials contend that under the current 10 cents per mile rate the parkway will only raise enough money to pay for 45 percent of its cost. The Dallas North Tollway and the Bush Turnpike tolls paid for 75 percent of their costs in the first years of operation. Southwest Parkway tolls are not expected to pay for it in less than 30 years, officials said.
NTTA statistics show that almost 23 percent of toll transactions come in Denton, Tarrant, and Johnson counties, while Dallas and Collin counties account for as much as 75 percent, based on Toll Tag transactions.
"The real critical part of this is we are a regional authority," said Jack Miller, board vice chairman and Denton County appointee. "We have an obligation as a regional authority to encourage projects in our region, but they have to be sound. They have to have a system-wide soundness."
Under the plan approved by the board - alternative 4 - the "guiding principle" would be that all new NTTA projects would be supported by the NTTA system through "uniform toll rates on all facilities." The existing system of the Dallas North Tollway and the Bush turnpike would increase to 11 cents per mile in 2007 and grow to 12 cents per mile by 2010, a 1.5 percent annual rate change, reviewable after 5 years. The eastern extension of the Bush would open with a 12 cents per mile toll and Southwest Parkway would open with a 16 cents per mile rate, with 1.5 percent annual increases. Tolls on the new projects would be reviewed after five years as well.
According to the NTTA, even without new projects, the authority would consider toll increases in 2007, with a $300- to $400-million capital program coming online in the next eight years.
©Star Community Newspapers 2005
posted by Porkus Maximus Tex: at Friday, December 23, 2005
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