GOP lawmakers threaten lawsuit on toll road study

August 21, 2007

by Joe Donohue / The Star-Ledger (Newark, NJ)

Republican lawmakers said today they will sue to force Gov. Jon Corzine to release a key study related to his plan to borrow billions of dollars that would be repaid with higher state highway tolls.

Three GOP members of the Assembly Transportation Committee demanded Corzine release an $800,000 study -- conducted by Steer Davies Gleave Limited of London -- of the revenue-raising potential and traffic on four state roadways.

"In the spirit of transparency, you must trust members of the Legislature and the public to review the consultant's final reports and recommendations which we have all paid $800,000 to produce," Assemblymen Kevin O'Toole (R-Essex) and Sean Kean (R-Monmouth) and Assemblywoman Jennifer Beck (R-Monmouth) wrote in a letter to the Democratic governor.

They said unless they obtain the consultant's "uncensored" study, not a final version rewritten by administration officials, they plan to file a lawsuit.

The administration, they said, refused a previous demand to produce the document under the state Open Public Records Act. Based on invoices, Republican lawmakers said they believe the study has been complete since about early May.

According to a request for proposals (RFP) issued October 12 by the Treasury Department, the consultant was asked, among other things, to "develop annual traffic and toll revenue estimates for each asset for a period of up to 99 years."

Republicans said the invoices indicated the final analysis focused on the New Jersey Turnpike, Garden State Parkway, Atlantic City Expressway, and Route 440 between the Turnpike and Parkway. The original RFP also mentioned I-80, I-78, Pulaski Skyway Bridge and a section of I-95 operated by the state as possible candidates for review.

Corzine's plan to "monetize" state assets already has cost the public $4.6 million in consulting fees. He has said he will release the full details when the complex plan is ready. Few expect it to be unveiled before the Nov. 6 election.

While the governor has been stingy on details, he has ruled out turning control of state highways over to private operators. Instead, he intends to form a non-profit public corporation to issues billions of dollars in bonds that will be repaid with higher tolls on the highways.