Port Authority Toll Hike Hearings

The Port Authority of NY/NJ is having public hearings tomorrow on their proposed toll hikes for Hudson River crossings and PATH trains.

The proposed tolls and the hearing schedules, including an online hearing, can be found on the agency’s website here.

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Unions To Dems: Shut Up About Port Authority Toll Hikes

By Art Gallagher

Politickernj is reporting that New Jersey’s construction unions are leaning on Democratic lawmakers not to criticise Governor Christie over the proposed 50% toll and fare hikes by the Port Authority of NY/NJ. Yet.

The labor unions want New Jersey commuters to fund the $33 billion in NY and NJ infrastructure projects, including the rebuilding of the World Trade Center, that the toll hikes will support.

Trenton Democrats and U.S. Senators Robert Menendez and Frank Lautenberg had initially come out strongly against the toll hikes.   Governors Christie and Cuomo claimed they were caught off guard by the toll hike proposal and would review it.  Most observers expect Christie and Cuomo to approve lower toll increases than the Port Authority has proposed.

Trenton Democrats are now holding their powder on criticising the proposed hikes, figuring that Christie will look good politically if he responds to the criticism by scaling back the increases.  Instead they will attack Republicans after the final hikes are approved.

Christie has blamed the need for toll hikes on years of mismanagement  in the Port Authority and has claimed that the people he has appointed are improving the operations and finances of the mega agency.  Cuomo said that the proposed toll hikes don’t work for him.

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Reduce Costs Before Raising Tolls: It Is Time To Reform “Prevailing Wage”

By Art Gallagher

Perhaps lost in the news of the S & P down grade of United States Treasury debt is the local news that the Port Authority of NY/NJ is calling for a massive toll and fare increases to fund capital projects.  Tolls on Hudson River crossings would increase from $8 to $12 and fares on the PATH trains would increase from $1.75 to $2.75.

Governors Christie and Cuomo issued a joint statement that signals that toll increases are coming, but at lower rate than proposed by the Port Authority Board.  We’ve seen this dance before.  Port Authority proposes a huge increase and the politicians scale it back.

Mark Magyar has a comprehensive article at NJSpotLight highlighting the “need” for the $1 billion revenue increase that Port Authority is requesting.

Governors Christie and Cuomo have established themselves as credible reformers in reducing the size of state government.  The proposal is another opportunity for them to improve government services and implement lasting reforms in the process.

Christie should use this opportunity to reform a major cost driver on public capital projects; “prevailing wage.”

“Prevailing wage” requires wages paid to employees of contractors working on government projects in New Jersey to be paid at a “union rate” determined by the unions and the Department of Labor, even if the winning bidders of the contractors are not union shops.

Eliminating the “prevailing wage” clause in government contracts would save taxpayers billions of dollars on construction projects.  There is a huge over supply of labor available.  Wages on government contracts should be set my market forces, not by unions who are making political contributions.  

The savings associated with eliminating this practice would go well beyond the Port Authority projects.  It would extend to DOT projects and county and municipal projects.  The saving to toll payers, fare payers and property tax payers would be substantial.

Another area for savings is the largess of salaries paid to the political patrons who run the Port Authority.  Just as Christie has mandates that school superintendents shall not earn more than the Governor, employees of the Port Authority should not earn more than the governors of New York and New Jersey.

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