Dan Haar: Looming $600 million gap means tolls are unavoidable

Dan Haar: Looming $600 million gap means tolls are unavoidable

Financially, tolling is as close to a must-do as anything I can imagine in government spending. Here’s the big picture: Connecticut already borrows more for transportation projects than any other state except Rhode Island. Even without stepped-up borrowing, debt payments are set to rise more than $300 million a year in the next five years, to more than $1 billion a year. The need for more highway and transit spending, meanwhile, seems not to be in dispute — at least another $300 million a year to actually improve more things instead of just catching up with repairs. And revenues to pay for all this are flat. Debt payments on bonds to finance major projects amount to $690 million this year. That figure is steadily rising up to $1.01 billion in 2024, a 46 percent jump, assuming we keep borrowing to cover the same yearly spending. Connecticut already finances about half its transportation funding through borrowing.

https://www.middletownpress.com/news/article/Dan-Haar-Why-the-numbers-show-tolls-must-be-part-14518460.php

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