Group seeks pledge from
Corzine on toll road sale

15 towns have passed resolutions against monetization of roads

June 27, 2007

BY TOM CAIAZZA, Staff Writer Woodbridge Sentinel

EDISON - A public interest research group has called on Gov. Jon Corzine to pledge not to sell the state's toll roads if the deal does not adhere to a series of monetization principles.

Abigail Field of New Jersey Public Interest Research Group (NJPIRG) and members of local municipal governments held a press conference at the municipal building June 19 to urge the governor to follow six principles of monetization when considering the best way to sell or lease the state's three main toll roads - The New Jersey Turnpike, the Garden State Parkway and the Atlantic City Expressway.

The governor has expressed interest in selling or leasing those highly lucrative toll roads in an attempt to infuse the state with cash to pay down a deficit several billions of dollars deep.

Field said that some 15 municipalities in three counties have passed resolutions opposing the sale or lease of the toll roads, including Edison. It represents the pressure being exerted by a grassroots movement against monetization.

"It may or may not make fiscal sense to do this," said Edison council Vice President Anthony Massaro. "But in terms of policy, I don't believe it makes any good sense for a government ... to be selling off its assets and selling off its responsibilities."

Field said that the governor has played this issue too close to the vest and has not given the public enough assurance of what kind of deal he expects to make. He has also refused to sign their pledge.

"The message of the grassroots should be clear," Field said. "Hey, Governor Corzine, you can't just tell us to trust you."

The pledge consists of six principles, including securing a fair value for the three roads, limiting the lease deal to no more than 30 years, and maintaining complete transparency and accountability both during the negotiation process and in oversight after the sale.

The sale of toll roads is an expanding practice, with governments finding they can provide a large influx of money; however, Field said that similar projects in Chicago and most notably in Indiana have been failures both fiscally and practically and that there is no reason to believe the same wouldn't happen in New Jersey.

"We are open to the idea that it can be done right," Field said. "However, there is no example of how to do it right on this scale."

She said that some valuations of the sale price for a toll road in Indiana came in $8 billion more than it was sold for. The current working number for the sale of the three is about $15 billion, and Field wants to be sure the state isn't underselling its assets.

That is why the pledge would require the governor to give the public full disclosure of the deal six months before the final agreement is signed, in a chance to vet both the final contract and the negotiation process. It would also require the deal to pass the Legislature through an up or down vote that Field said would give it public accountability while leaving the governor powerful enough to negotiate with whatever firm or firms would enter into the agreement.

Woodbridge council President Brenda Yori Velasco said that she opposed the monetization of the toll roads because a private company's bottom line is profit, not the public.

Massaro was concerned about the precedent that selling the state's assets would create.

"There is no downward floor to that elevator," Massaro said, asking if police and fire departments would be next on the list for monetization.

Or perhaps the schools.

"Do we then begin to sell the names of the schools," Massaro asked, "make it Xerox High School? "

Field said there are perhaps only 100 possible companies that could handle a lease agreement like this and the one chosen would have a monopoly on the toll roads in New Jersey. She said that the larger problem, though, is not the company but the deal.

"The question isn't who is buying," Field said, "but what they are selling them."

Field and NJPIRG may have to wait a bit longer for a resolution to the toll road issue. Corzine announced on Thursday that he was putting the sale on the shelf at least until after the November elections.

Field said it does not change NJPIRG's desire to see the governor accept the pledge.

"While the details of the plan may be delayed," Field said, "we think there is no reason to wait to make specific commitments to the public about the deal. There are fundamental principles that the governor should commit to that transcend the details of the deal."

NJPIRG has created an online petition urging the governor to sign the pledge. That petition can be found on their Web site, www.njpirg.org.