CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A bill that would keep tolls on the West Virginia Turnpike well after the current bonds are paid off in 2019 is expected to be taken up Tuesday in the state Senate.
Members of the Senate Transportation Committee will seek information about the possibility of offering tax breaks to residents who use the Turnpike.
The legislation, SB 397, would change the current state law that says tolls will be removed from the Turnpike once the bonds are paid off and that the highway will be transferred from the state Parkways Authority to the state Division of Highways.
Senator Chris Walters (R-Putnam, 08), committee chairman and lead sponsor of the bill, said taking the tolls away could result in more budget problems for the state.
“If these Turnpike tolls come off the highway, we’re going to punch a $60 million hole into our road funding,” Walters said on last week’s MetroNews “Talkline” sitting alongside Del. Marty Gearheart (R-Mercer, 27) who opposed the bill.
“My numbers are a little less than that,” Gearheart said. “I come up with $23 (million) by Parkways’ financial statement, but depending upon the amount of dollars that are submitted, this would not hit a budget until somewhere around 2030 plus.”
Gearheart introduced a similar bill, signed into law a few years ago, that would scrap the toll booths.
“We promised in the original legislation to remove the tolls. We promised to do that in 30 years. We have extended that for 32 years. I would submit to you that the bill that the Senator (Walters) has offered is a broken promise,” he said.
Currently, the state receives federal funds for the 88-mile highway, but if tolls were removed, Walters said that money won’t be provided.
Also, hundreds of job cuts are on the line if the bill passed. There are currently 360 workers with the Parkways Authority. About 160 of them are toll collectors.
Walters said the Turnpike is “the best maintained road in the state of West Virginia,” but a lot of bridges need work.
“A lot of those bridges on the Turnpike are nearing their end of life with a 40-year span. All those bridge decks are going to have to be replaced and they’ll have to be replaced without the toll income if we don’t pass something before 2019,” he said.
But Gearheart said the tolls are unnecessary.
“To use a toll road as a continuing item of maintenance, and we would have to, frankly, toll every single road within the state of West Virginia to distribute that appropriately, and I don’t think that’s the way to do it,” Gearheart said.
Each of the highway’s three toll plazas charge $2 per passing vehicle. Trucks pay about $3 to $12 depending on the size and length of the vehicle. Discounted rates are available for those motorists with E-Z Pass.
On Tuesday, the Transportation Committee will be talking about the different kinds of discounts they can offer West Virginians.