Credit: PA Internet News Service
Pennsylvania Auditor General Eugene DePasquale noted last week that an audit of the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission shows that the oversight organization is on “potentially unstable financial ground” – and could be putting the state’s entire transportation system in danger.
The latest performance audit of the turnpike, which covered fiscal years 2014 to 2016, found that toll violations are increasing (by 15 percent each year since 2011 (except for 2013)), causing the turnpike commission to write off $12 million to $20 million per year. The audit also notes that failing to meet the commission’s unrealistic traffic and revenue projections could contribute to a financial and statewide transportation crisis in the next seven years.
“The turnpike is relying on unrealistic revenue growth projections that should be setting off alarms now and in the near future,” said DePasquale. “On a positive note, our audit found that the commission is following its procurement rules when it comes to awarding contracts and that the turnpike commission is managing its current financial situation.”
According to a recent release, the audit found that the turnpike commission is carrying a heavy debt load and is using highly optimistic outside consultant projections to predict how much money will be coming in each year through 2044 — a combination that could spell disaster.
“Act 44 requires the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission to pay $450 million per year to PennDOT through 2022,” he said.
DePasquale first highlighted the problems with the $450 million Act 44 payments in a special report in June 2013, and the legislature took action by passing Act 89 of 2013, which decreased the payments to $50 million beginning in 2023.
“I supported the bipartisan transportation funding reform that became Act 89 because, in addition to improving the state’s infrastructure, it increased oversight of the turnpike’s financial situation,” said DePasquale. “That extra oversight and fiscal monitoring will help create the awareness needed to address the problem before we reach the next transportation funding cliff in 2023.”
According to Pasquale, in seven years there will be a $400 million gap in the amount of money PennDOT receives to support public transit agencies in cities and smaller communities across the commonwealth. He’s warned that if the General Assembly doesn’t design a plan to make up for that shortfall, the residents that rely on public transit could be left in the dark with severe service cuts and unaffordable fare hikes.
For the turnpike commission to be able to make its Act 44 and 89 payments it must increase toll rates every year, and even that may not be enough.
“There’s no way more people are going to use the turnpike and pay more and more money to do it,” he said. “The turnpike commission’s consultant is operating under the belief that, ‘if you build it they will come,’ but this isn’t Kevin Costner’s field of dreams. This isn’t a Hollywood movie; at some point people will refuse to pay the toll and start looking for alternative routes.”
The turnpike has even had to cut back spending on capital improvement projects – reducing their re-building plan by $1 billion over the next 10 years.
“This is where it gets even more unrealistic,” said DePasquale. “You can’t cut back on construction and increase traffic 44 percent, especially while jacking up the toll rates. It’s nonsensical. People aren’t going to pay to sit on the turnpike parking lot. The entire projection is simply unsustainable.”
Other findings in the 2013 report noted that the commission continues to allow employees, third-party vendors such as contractors and consultants, and others to travel the turnpike toll free for business and personal use. While this policy makes sense for some, like state troopers, or workers traveling on turnpike business, it’s an issue that needs to be more closely monitored in a time when DePasquale says “every dolalrs matters”.
“I am glad to see the commission at least began requiring staff to monitor non-employees’ toll-free travel since the 2013 audit. But the commission’s own audit team determined that the monitoring was inadequate at times,” he said. “Toll-free travel is an issue that the commission must address immediately. The potential for abuse of the system and the cost to allow toll-free personal travel are just too high.”
As a result, DePasquale has urged the General Assembly to take action immediately.
“There are only three legislative sessions left to deal with this issue before it hits, and hits hard,” he said. “These haphazard funding gimmicks are going to collapse and leave the turnpike and people who rely on public transit systems across the state in a world of hurt if the General Assembly doesn’t act soon to find a long-term, sustainable solution.”
