Published: June 23, 2009 10:00 pm      

Toll hike

Trucker warns authority on toll hike

A Pocahontas County trucking executive warned the West Virginia Parkways Authority on Tuesday that higher tolls on the turnpike could threaten the livelihood of shippers and the businesses they serve, and eventually thin the wallets of consumers.

And, in the same informal workshop leading up to a historic meeting set a week from today in the Charleston, one authority member suggested frequent users could use the same discount without a toll increase if the Legislature put up between $5 million and $7 million.

Fred Burns, chairman and chief executive officer of Burns Motor Freight in Marlinton, suggested the authority back off from its planned 60 percent toll increase and instead jack up the fares incrementally, starting with a 5 percent boost in July, followed by identical hikes New Year’s Day and every six months thereafter.

Barring any unforeseen developments, the authority intends to impose a 60 percent across-the-board toll hike next Wednesday.

“Sixty percent is unreasonable,” Burns told the authority. “Twenty-five percent is unreasonable. I’m not here to complain. I’m here to offer advice.”

Burns said his firm handles an average of 6,000 loads annually for the Georgia-Pacific plant in Mount Hope, taking its goods within a 250-mile radius, and the cost for a round-trip on the turnpike is $19.

With the planned increase, that charge soars to $30.20, and even with a discount, his firm would still shell out $22.64 per trip, he said.

In a year’s time, Burns said, his company now pays $114,000 for hauling Georgia-Pacific products, and with the impending toll increase, the charge would jump to $181,000, or $135,000 with the discount.

Burns had no dispute with the need to provide money to finance upkeep and repairs on the crumbling highway.

“We want safety to come first,” he said. “That highway is our workplace.”

Burns said Georgia-Pacific officials are “quite concerned” over the planned increase, adding it could have a rippling effect throughout the business community.

“I don’t want to see that plant leave West Virginia,” he said.

“That is a source of revenue my company needs every day.”

Once tolls rise, he said, the likely outcome is that goods will be higher when they reach the market.

“Ultimately, the consumer is going to pay,” he added.

Board member Cam Lewis wondered if the authority could get by with a smaller increase, but manager Greg Barr said the one up for a vote next week is the minimum the turnpike needs.

“It’s a very close-to-the-cuff estimate,” Barr said.

Bond counsel Roger Hunter reminded members of the critical need to assure bondholders a “constant and reliable income stream” so the debt coverage test can be achieved.

Even if the Legislature sought to provide relief from general revenue funds, he noted, any money paid toward bonds would need voter approval.

“The first barrier is, when you look for a tax source, is you don’t run afoul of the state Constitution,” Hunter said.

Faced with dwindling toll income, a loss blamed on higher fuel prices and the recession, and the need to deal with $238 million in deferred maintenance, the authority is expected to raise tolls next week, generating a minimum of $20 million annually in new revenue. Barr said $5 million would be targeted for the bond indebtedness and the other $15 million would go toward shoring up the road.

Rather than criticize the authority, board member Bill Seaver suggested lawmakers come up with $5 million to $7 million that might allow tolls to remain the same for motorists using the discount program, while all others would pay the higher fares. Under the plan, even those with a discount would see the fare go from $1.25 per barrier for cars to $1.50. All others would pay $2.

“It would give everybody an opportunity to keep tolls at $1.25 if our legislators would step up to the plate,” Seaver added.

Any way you look at it, however, board member Mike Vinciguerra noted, tolls at any level simply don’t sit well with southern West Virginians, as evidenced by four public hearings last month in the four counties embracing the 88-mile toll road.

“People in southern West Virginia don’t believe they should have to pay a toll, period,” he added.

— E-mail: mannix@register-herald.com