🔒Businesses split on tolls

On the day Transportation Committee members approved three bills that would lay the groundwork for highway-toll adoption in Connecticut, Gov. Ned Lamont's office released a statement from two top business leaders supporting the measures.

“Everyone agrees that we need to repair our aging roads and bridges, speed up rail and support other modes of transportation … ,” read the joint statement from Bob Patricelli and Jim Smith, former co-chairs of the CEO-led Commission on Fiscal Stability and Economic Growth. “The proposals that allow tolling in Connecticut will enable these upgrades and enhancements.”

The public declarations were meant to indicate that tolls have business-leader support.

That is not actually the case. At least not fully. The reality is much more complicated. While tolls have split public opinion in Connecticut, they may be creating an even deeper divide within the business community.

At least two chambers of commerce representing companies in Fairfield County and eastern Connecticut are in support of tolls as a means to invest in an aging and inefficient transportation system. The Motor Transport Association of Connecticut, which represents companies with truck fleets, vehemently opposes tolls, for obvious reasons.

Most significantly, the state's largest business lobby — the Connecticut Business & Industry Association — has yet to take sides on the issue.

Their silence is deafening. Privately, some business leaders say the group must take a stand.

CBIA CEO and President Joe Brennan said his 40-member board, which includes business executives from around the state in myriad industries, has not been able to reach a consensus on the issue.

Many executives support them, Brennan said, while many others don't.

“Most people really believe that we need to upgrade our infrastructure and that we need some form of revenue to do that,” Brennan said. “However, they still have a lot of questions about how exactly this is going to work and the impact it's going to have on the economy in Connecticut.”

What questions do businesses have? Brennan named a litany of them: What is the right number in terms of revenue that should be raised? Where did that number come from and what will it actually fund? How many toll gantries will there be? What will they cost per ride? What discounts will be provided to in-state residents? Will an independent authority be charged with overseeing tolls?

Those are reasonable questions. The truth is, many business leaders don't trust giving state lawmakers carte blanche when it comes to determining the specifics of a tolls program. They want to know exactly what they are in for prior to supporting or opposing a major tax increase.

And that's what tolls are — a regressive tax hike that will increase the cost of living and doing business in the state. Given that policymakers have already approved two major tax hikes in the last decade, businesses are rightfully wary of the legislature gaining more revenue-raising authority.

So far, we've been given broad outlines of a few different proposals, including a Department of Transportation study that pitched 82 toll gantries on all major highways that would raise $1 billion annually. Lamont has talked about a toll program on most major highways that would raise $800 million a year.

Those are both expansive proposals that should be cause for concern. The good news is a portion of that money would come from out-of-state drivers, possibly up to 40 percent, according to one estimate.

So what are the diversity of viewpoints on CBIA's board, which has been discussing the issue for several years now?

There is a general consensus, Brennan said, that Connecticut's transportation system needs more investment, and that the gas tax, long term, will not provide enough revenue. When CBIA surveyed its members over the last several years, a small majority said they were in favor of electronic tolling, he said.

Companies in Fairfield County are more apt to support tolls because of the congestion problems along I-95. For example, Brennan said he's got a Fairfield County member with a truck fleet who said tolls will cost him “a lot of money,” but he's still willing to support them because he's losing more from his vehicles and workers sitting idle on the highway.

That's also one of the key reasons, along with the need to significantly upgrade the state's rail system, The Business Council of Fairfield County and Chamber of Commerce of Eastern Connecticut are backing tolls.

Brennan said he's got some members who are simply tired of the higher fees and costs of doing business in the state.

Others don't trust that lawmakers will use tolls money to fund transportation projects, even though voters approved a transportation fund lockbox last November.

Joseph McGee, vice president of public policy and programs at The Business Council of Fairfield County, said he doesn't buy that argument. He said any tolling program in the state would need federal approval, including how the funds are used.

If lawmakers tried to divert transportation funds for other purposes it would violate a federal agreement, he said, adding that his group has supported tolls for a few years because it views it as an economic-development issue.

The bottom line is this: If Lamont and state lawmakers want widespread support from the business community on tolls, they need to be fully transparent on the details. Until then, expect well-deserved skepticism.