Tax hikes, agency reform needed to save state transportation

By John Hilliard/Daily News staff
Sun Jan 13, 2008, 12:20 AM EST


FRAMINGHAM - Solving the state's transportation financial crisis means finding new ways to raise money, and perhaps more difficult, reforming a system billions of dollars in debt from the Big Dig and other transit services, area municipal leaders said earlier this week.

"If you think tolls are high now, if we don't dramatically change the system, you ain't seen nothing yet," said state Rep. David Linsky, D-Natick, during Thursday's meeting of the MetroWest Growth Management Committee in Framingham.

Legislators and municipal leaders from across MetroWest met to work out ways to save the state's struggling transportation system. If nothing is done, the state's infrastructure will deteriorate further, plus face a nearly $20 billion funding gap over the next two decades, according to reports issued by the state Transportation Finance Commission last year.

That figure doesn't include future improvements or the $15 billion cost of the Big Dig, said Michael Widmer, a member of the finance panel and president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation.

"We are in a particularly difficult position because we built a $15 billion project," he said, noting that about one-third of the state's federal highway aid helps pay off the Big Dig's debt.

He said virtually all the state's transportation agencies have structural deficits and employ "short-term quick fixes," but there is little money for road improvements without sacrificing the existing infrastructure.

One area that saw support from officials Thursday was an increased gas tax that would funnel additional money to the state's transportation system, but officials acknowledged any efforts to boost revenue must be tied to changes in these transportation agencies.

"We got to show the public we are serious about reforms," said Widmer.

Aside from a higher gas tax, possible changes could mean the use of flagmen instead of police details, changes to MBTA worker benefits and possibly the merger of all the state's transit agencies, including the MBTA, MassHighway and the Turnpike Authority.

Mary Connaughton, a Framingham resident who serves on the Mass. Turnpike Authority Board, said the recent toll hike and one in 2002 were legislated as part of an effort to pay off the Big Dig's debt. The hikes, which increased pike tolls east of Rte. 128 earlier this month, cost MetroWest commuters who drive daily to Boston about $1,400 annually, she said.

MetroWest commuters carry much of the cost of the Big Dig, while drivers in Boston and other areas pay far less to use the Central Artery, she said.

"The whole Turnpike system is rife with inequity," she said, noting a fiscal review of the Authority's finances is now underway.

She said a 9-cent increase in the gas tax would cost drivers about $68 more a year, but could spread the Big Dig's debt payments over the entire state.

State legislators at the meeting said there has been bipartisan support in tackling transportation issues among MetroWest's delegation.

Rep. Alice Hanlon Peisch, D-Wellesley, and Rep. Pam Richardson, D-Framingham, said they also supported some form of a gas tax increase and will take a closer look at how money is now spent among transit agencies.

Natick's Linsky said the Turnpike's eastern portion - overseen by the Metropolitan Highway System - has about $117 million in debt it must pay off this year, and half of the tolls collected go to pay off that debt.

He said the turnpike's debt should be carried by the state so payments can be spread among the entire commonwealth.

In MetroWest, the region faces a transit crisis because of poor commuter rail service, the pike's tolls, plus bottlenecked intersections along Rte. 9 in Framingham and Natick, he said.

Framingham Selectman John Stasik, who works as chairman of the regional panel, said officials must act.

"We have been talking a lot of years about a lack of revenue... now is the time to get off the dime, as it were, and do something about it," said Stasik.