Toll hike or tax hike… Those are choices?
As the founder of the petition to eliminate the Grand Island Tolls I am outraged at this. Just when we think we have some hope of finally ridding WNY of yet another double tax and commuter tax, the unelected, unaccountable thruway authority reneges on the deal and instead choose to raise tolls as a punishment to us. But worst of all our representatives are making up excuses for them to be able to do it? It’s either this or raise taxes? I’m gonna have a coronary……..
The deal was that the Senate would fund one year of toll revenue for the sum of 14 million. That amount is almost double what we should have given them. The other half was for payroll, maintenance and upkeep of those toll barriers. That half is for payroll that would no longer be needed. What am I missing here?
This year the NY State DOT was to take back control of interstate 84 making this deal revenue neutral. Infact they gained over a half million. That deal would have saved the needed revenue lost to the removal of the tolls in Buffalo.
I think they expect us to forget or better still be stupid enough not to remember the facts of the deal that was made. Wrong, we cannot forget. Throw more stuff on the fire to confuse us so they can continue to take all we have, why not.
Now Thursday night Sam Hoyt is holding a meeting at Grand Island Town Hall on the Grand Island tolls. Is this once again pandering, along with Hoyt will be Supervisor McMahon, Iannello and Thruway Authority representatives. This isn’t just pandering, this is another meeting to show they are doing something when in reality they know all they are doing is fighting for re-election and taking on this issue takes the focus from the 6300+ signers of the petition and on to them. They are the heroes? I think not.
How much more can we take? How many more people will leave? Will Governor Spitzer ever wake up to the fiscal and economic mess we are in? What ever happened to making the Canals a seperate entity saving the toll payers over 300 million a year? That has not come true either. They have the money, they just want more of ours.
This insanity has got to stop!
Have you signed the petition? Sign it now at
http://nogitolls.com/
As we first reported last week, the New York State Thruway Authority says higher gas prices have meant fewer people are driving, and that means less revenue for the Thruway Authority.
And if tolls go up because of lost revenue, at least one state senator says Western New York may be partly to blame.
“We’re partly responsible for it,” said State Senate Dale Volker responding to a question about possible toll increases. “Taking down the Ogden tolls was a huge decrease in the revenue.”
Let’s go back for a moment. When the tolls came down almost a year ago, State Senator Dale Volker was making a toast in the back of a pick-up truck, driving through the free toll barriers for the very first time.
2 On Your Side’s Lynne Dixon questioned Volker on Tuesday.
“Wait a minute, you were out there in support of tearing down the toll barriers,” Dixon said. “So you’re saying now as a result of tearing down those toll barriers…”
“It’s because of us, Volker interrupted. “There is a good possibility that they are at least going to allege that part of the reason is because Western New York by far has the most free thruway miles of any area of the state.
“Then why did you support the effort to take it down if you saw this as a result,” Dixon asked.
“The issue is, taxpayers of New York, we’re either going to have to pay tolls, or possibly taxes,” Volker said. “And we chose the possibility of tolls. We don’t like it.”
Attorney Michael Powers was also in the back of that pick-up truck last October. He’s one of the people behind the lawsuit to bring the tolls down. He showed 2 On Your Side a resolution from the New York State Thruway Authority, saying that by taking the tolls down and by turning over the I-84 to the Department of Transportation, no money would be lost.
“In fact, the report itself states it generated a budget savings of point-six-million-dollars,” said Powers. “So when anyone tries to tell you the removal the I-190 tolls cost the Thruway Authority money simply isn’t true.”
Powers says raising tolls is wrong and like before, he says, this is a battle worth fighting.
2 On Your Side’s Josh Boose asked Powers, “Can we expect another lawsuit?”
“Yes,” he responded. “If they do not back off this toll increase plan, there will be another lawsuit and we will stop them.”
Senator Volker says he doubts the toll hike will happen anytime soon.
Michael Powers urged all elected officials in western New York to stand behind him and stop any increase at the tolls.
“There were a lot of elected leaders out there crowding to get in front of the camera,” said Powers referring to the day the tolls came down. “My question is where are they now? It was easy to get on the bandwagon back then. Where are you now? Are you going to come out and support this effort? I challenge them right here, right now.”
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