Link to article here.

Remember this is written by a toll road industry advocate, so the tone is pro-toll. It’s enlightening as to the financial chicanery being played with taxpayer money regarding interest rate swapping and other tricks with public debt that are not only risky, they’re downright malfeasance!

State auditor hits Penn Pike for “gambling” with $2.23 billion in interest rate swaps
Toll Road News
Posted on Fri, 2010-04-09

The state auditor-general in Pennsylvania, Jack Wagner has criticized the Turnpike for “gambling” with $2.23 billion variable interest rate debt tied to 26 different interest rate swaps. He said his office calculated the cost to terminate the swaps could be $146m – the equivalent of around three months toll revenues.

Wagner wrote in a letter to Turnpike CEO Joe Brimmeier: “Swaps are tantamount to gambling with taxpayer money and they have no place in the public sector.  With drivers already paying higher tolls mandated under Act 44, the Turnpike Commission must do all that it can to show Pennsylvanians that it is handling money wisely.”

In his letter to Brimmeier, Wagner urged the Turnpike Commission to:

– stop using swaps,

– conduct a financial assessment to determine the financial impact of its swaps, and

– hire financial advisers through a competitive selection process.

He asked Brimmeier to provide more detailed information about the Turnpike Commission’s swaps giving a deadline of April 19.

Wagner is quoted: “The fundamental guiding principle in handling public funds is that they should never be exposed to the risk of financial loss. Swaps have no place in public financing and should be banned immediately.”

Carl de Febo spokesman at the Turnpike said the commission is “reviewing that correspondence, and we have no comment at the moment.”

Wagner is a candidate for the Democrat Party’s nominee in the state governor election this November, since the incumbent governor Ed Rendell is term-limited out.

Populist politics?

Critics of Wagner will say he’s engaging in populist politics and pandering to people’s prejudice against complex financing instruments. Economists argue that all borrowing is risky. It is, they say, a gamble because future revenue streams to pay the interest and repay capital are uncertain, and because prevailing interest rates are unpredictable.

Interest rate swaps can – at a price – reduce the risk of interest rate volatility and such ‘hedging’ will make variable interest borrowing less of a gamble. Properly used they can be an insurance against big increases in interest rates on variable interest debt or on refinancing debt as debt matures.

To prohibit public authorities from hedging, they will say, could increase the “gamble” they take when they borrow – like prohibiting insurance.

But interest rate swaps that shielded borrowers in the boom turned out to be big lossmakers in the great financial crisis from 2008 on. Engineered to protect against rises in interest rates they turned into major lossmakers when interest rates plunged.

Carelessness and fraud

And many theoretically defensible swaps and auction rate securities seem to have been carelessly written, some were fraudulent. In addition many contracts just fell apart when the bond insurers lost their required credit rating. That risk had not been properly explained or considered.

Brian Chase an investment consultant and former Nossaman and Carlyle Group staffer says: “Frequently, we have seen that the public sector does not in fact understand the financial risks it has taken through its use of interest-rate swaps and auction-rate securities.”

Elaine Greenberg, top SEC official in Pennsylvania, has said there is widespread pay-to-play corruption and bid fixes in bond underwriting and derivatives transactions in that state.

Small cliques seem to get the great bulk of the profitable work of underwriting and legal and financial advice.

Size of debt may be biggest issue

But the biggest question of all may lie not in hedging via interest rate swaps but in the absolute size of the Turnpike’s borrowing relative to its income stream and its obligations.

How sound is the basis for the Turnpike’s huge borrowing – $6.11 billion at end December last year? Can the Turnpike realistically deliver on the fixed Act 44 obligations it has assumed to support unpriced and loss-making transportation elsewhere in the state?

Public authorities held to lower standard of liability disclosureGreenberg of the SEC told Business Week recently that public authorities like the Turnpike have not been required to fully disclose the liabilities they are taking on nearly as fully as investor owned companies.

So while they provide sexy subject matter for gubernatorial campaigning the interest rate swaps may turn out to be a trivial side issue compared to the fundamental question of whether the borrowing of these many billions is justified. Some say it isn’t clear that the proceeds of the borrowings been productively invested to generate cash flows five and ten years off to service that huge debt.

TOLLROADSnews 2010-04-09

TURF speaks to Dallas Tea Party
By Terri Hall
San Antonio Express-News blog
April 19, 2010

Though much maligned in the press, the Tea Party movement has the potential to bring much-needed attention to a host of fiscal issues that, if left unchecked, threaten to bankrupt the country. I was invited to speak at the Dallas Tea Party event at Quick Trip Stadium in Grand Prairie for its April 15th Tax Day anniversary, along with national talk radio host Mike Gallagher and Dallas talk radio hosts Chris Krok and Jeff Bolton. Fourteen-thousand concerned citizens from all walks of life, many political stripes, and of all colors gathered to express their concerns with a host of fiscal issues from government spending to unsustainable debt across a broad range of policies.

The new version of toll roads using “innovative financing” relies on heaps of multi-leveraged public debt (the same risky financial schemes that brought us the mortgage crisis and bailout era) and has caused our infrastructure to teeter on the edge of insolvency. Many in the DFW area heard for the first time about this new-fangled version of toll roads (totally different than the traditional turnpikes that have been in North Texas for decades) that co-mingle public and private funds and ultimately sells America’s public infrastructure to the highest bidder on Wall Street in order to generate quick cash for government. Think of it as a government bailout as a result of decades of out of control spending and a lack of properly funding legitimate priorities like public infrastructure.

The crowd response was nothing short of amazing with shouts of “who’s responsible for this?” and “what a rip-off,” along with other sentiments of fiscal disgust. North Texas is under an all-out toll road assault, with virtually every new lane slated to be tolled and close to 600 miles of planned toll lanes. All three of the current public private partnership (PPP) contracts that will sell our roads to foreign companies are in North Texas: the DFW Connector, North Tarrant Express/I-820, and LBJ/I-635. These deals will charge extremely high tolls, 75 cents PER MILE, which is like paying $17 more for every gallon of gas you buy, just to use a single road!

PPP contracts essentially give private corporations the power to levy taxes and it’s also opened the door to eminent domain abuse for private gain. PPPs are yet another example of socializing the losses and privatizing the profits that awakened the sleeping giant in the first place. Your average Joe is not gonna tolerate being taken to the cleaners for government irresponsibility nor for private gluttony.

With DFW and Houston comprising the largest population centers, their grassroots involvement on toll tax issues are critical to halting toll road proliferation and returning to sensible, affordable, and sustainable transportation policy in Texas. Clearly our elected officials have ignored the public outcry against tolls in Austin and San Antonio for years. But with the rise of the Tea Parties and the newly awakened electorate they represent, a massive, organized coalition can now be mounted against runaway toll taxation.

Fasten your seat belts, we’re in for a wild ride in the next legislative session!

Read the complete text of TURF’s Dallas Tea Party speech here.

Link to article here.

Perry accepted $2 billion in stimulus money for road projects, 70% of which was slated to go to toll projects in a massive TRIPLE TAX scheme (gas tax, federal taxes to pay for stimulus, then another toll tax to use the road). It’s inexplicable that anyone would call this man a “fiscal conservative.”

Perry ducked state law on disclosing some stimulus money
Spending report was not posted on Web site as required.
By Laylan Copelin
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Published: 9:39 p.m. Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Gov. Rick Perry has always publicly stiff-armed federal stimulus dollars, even as he accepted billions to balance the state budget and tens of millions that he could award to constituents.

He even ignored state law and his own executive order that require all state agencies and institutions of higher education to be “accountable and transparent” by posting their stimulus spending reports on their Web sites.

Until Tuesday, that is.

After a reporter’s inquiry, the Governor’s Criminal Justice Division began posting reports, some of them months old, on its Web site. Perry’s spokeswoman, Katherine Cesinger, would not elaborate on why the governor chose not to follow the law that he expected other state officials to follow.

State Rep. Jim Dunnam, D-Waco , who leads the House committee overseeing federal stimulus programs in Texas, said Tuesday that he isn’t surprised by the governor’s actions.

“Unfortunately, it’s a pattern of the governor publicly distancing himself from the federal stimulus while accepting the majority of the money,” Dunnam said. “They took $16 billion, and most Texans think they haven’t taken any of it.”

Last year, Perry accepted about $16 billion in federal stimulus money so lawmakers could avoid deep budget cuts or tax increases. But he refused to accept smaller amounts for unemployment benefits and education programs, saying that money came with “strings attached,” an argument his critics rejected.

Perry’s failure to file reports on the governor’s Web site involves only the money administered directly through his office.

The governor’s office has received about $92.2 million of the $110 million it requested from the federal government for law enforcement purposes. About $81 million has been obligated and $6.8 million disbursed, according to the Comptroller of Public Accounts, which maintains weekly reports of the state’s stimulus activities.

Perry’s office submitted the weekly summaries with totals, but Texans looking for greater detail were directed from the weekly report back to the governor’s Web site to find a report from 2006 — three years before the stimulus program existed.

Citizens looking for spending details would have had to navigate the federal site,

recovery.gov, where all agencies, including the Texas governor, must post reports.

The Legislature demanded more disclosure than posting to the federal site. The appropriations act requires each state agency and higher education institution to post stimulus reports on their state Web sites for easier public access.

In his Aug. 25 executive order, Perry cited those requirements when he directed state officials “to maintain transparency and accountability in all cases.” He also required every agency to designate a representative “to maintain a flow of current information relating to the receipt, deployment, management and use of funds received by the state and any of its political subdivisions or contractors” under the stimulus program.

The governor’s office has been hands-on in administering the money, with senior adviser Mike Morrissey running meetings with agency officials once or twice a week until recently.

The information on state Web sites varies. The Texas Department of Transportation has a “project tracker” that shows each construction project, contractors, amounts being spent and location. It can be viewed at apps.dot.state.tx.us/apps/project_tracker/stimprojects.htm.

Even the tiny Texas Commission on the Arts has a link to all National Endowment for the Arts awards in Texas at www.nea.gov/grants/recent/09grants/states2/arra.php?STATE=TX.

The public can view the efforts by the governor’s office at governor.state.tx.us/cjd.

Link to article here.

Anti Toll Groups Would Back Gas Tax Increase
but only if ‘diversions’ from gas tax fund are ended
By Jim Forsyth
Friday, April 16, 2010

Leaders of the anti toll road movement in Texas are quietly notifying state lawmakers that they would support an increase in the state gasoline tax as an alternative to toll roads, but they are demanding some concessions in return, 1200 WOAI news reports.

Terri Hall, founder of the anti toll group Texans Uniting for Reform and Freedom, says an increase in the gasoline tax would be preferable to ‘out of control’ creation of toll roads.

The Texas gasoline tax, which is 20 cents a gallon, hasn’t been raised since 1991, and the move to more fuel efficient cars is drastically cutting into the amount of money available for highway construction and maintenance, which has led to talk of toll roads.

“The studies we’ve seen would show that somewhere between eight and ten cents a gallon would meet out road needs, without having to toll our roads,” Hall said.

Tax increases are very controversial in the Texas Legislature, with the Republican leadership and Governor Perry repeatedly indicating that they would oppose tax increases.

Hall says she would back the gas tax increase if lawmakers agree not only to completely end the controversial practice of ‘diverting’ gas tax revenue to pet projects in their districts, and if lawmakers consider using the state automobile sales tax for highway projects.

“We all pay vehicle sales tax when we buy a car, and that money is now going into general revenue, instead of to roads,” Hall said.  “My understanding is that there is $4 billion a year that we could put back into roads, without having to raise any taxes.”

The legislature is expected to be facing a massive deficit, as much as $15 billion, when the next session begins in January, and Hall concedes that with the state scrambling for general fund revenue, taking billions of dollars out of the general fund may not be politically feasible.

Link to article here.

WARNING: There is some profanity contained in this article. Blagojevich uses some profane words when speaking about his plans to extort money from road contractors in exchange for building a much bigger toll project (went from $1.8 billion to a $5 billion project).

Illinois Tollway in clear in Blagojevich corruption case – no staff or board implicated
Toll Road News
Posted on Wed, 2010-04-14 22:47
The Feds have released details of their corruption case against former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich. Called “Government’s evidentiary proffer” the 91-page document filed in US District Court in Chicago by US Attorney Patrick J Fitzgerald today shows that the Governor tried to use the Illinois Tollway to extort money from Tollway contractors. But it makes no suggestion that Tollway officers or board members were involved in the shakedowns, just the Governor himself and his staffers.

The document is remarkable for the detail of hundreds of conversations between the governor and his immediate staff and telephone calls. Clearly the FBI had Blagojevich’s offices wired and other places he met. They tapped into his telephone conversations and those of his immediate staff.  

Most important, key participants in the conspiracies led by Blagojevich are cooperating with the US Attorney in his prosecution, perhaps in return for leniency.

The case begins before Blagojevich won the governorship in an election in late 2002. There are accounts of conversations with associates to plan extortions early in 2002.

From p21 of the US case after he became governor:

“There were occasions after Blagojevich became Governor that Blagojevich, Kelly, Monk, and Rezko (political hacks and flacks) all met to discuss their efforts to make money from state action. For example, the four men met in a conference room at the offices of one of Rezko’s businesses in about mid to late 2003. During the meeting, Rezko led the discussion, standing at an easel or chalkboard and listed at least three or four different ideas or plans to make money being developed by Rezko that involved some kind of state action. At times, Kelly got up during the meeting and clarified or added to things that Rezko was saying. Blagojevich mostly listened during the meeting, but was engaged. As Rezko talked, he indicated how much money Blagojevich, Kelly, Rezko, and Monk could hope to make from the different ideas. The amounts that were associated with the different ideas were typically in the hundreds of thousands of dollars per deal, which would be evenly split four ways.”

Obsessed with moneymaking

As pictured in the US Government case Blagojevich was completely obsessed with using the post of governor to enrich himself and his supporters. Everything he did seems to have been geared to self-enrichment and self-advancement. Every issue and decision was discussed in terms of what opportunity it provided to extort and steal. Many cases of corruption are laid out in detail.

The Tollway appears about halfway through

Several pages (from p52 on) are devoted to “Attempted Extortion Relating to the Tollway Program”.

That started when Tollway board members talked with Blagojevich about potential construction plans. They presented a $1.8 billion option and a more ambitious $5 billion option. Blagojevich told a flack named Monk that the Tollway’s program would be great for engineering firms. If they’d cough up serious money he’d go with the $5b program: “If they don’t step up, fuck ’em. I won’t do the bigger announcement (the $5b) in January.”

The US case page 53 on: “In about mid-September 2008, Blagojevich met with Monk, Robert Blagojevich, and Construction Executive, who was an executive in a cement company, at the FOB (Friends of Blagojevich) offices. As an active member of a concrete industry association group, Construction Executive had been responsible for raising large amounts of contributions for Blagojevich beginning in about 2002. Monk had become the primary contact with Construction Executive in terms of fundraising for Blagojevich in about 2007.

“At the meeting, Blagojevich also talked about both the potential $1.8 billion and $5 billion Tollway road building programs. Blagojevich indicated to Construction Executive that he was going to announce the small plan that Fall. Blagojevich said that he was inclined to also go forward with the larger plan, but that he did not want word to get out about his interest in doing so. Blagojevich explained that he wanted to keep that quiet so that the legislature would continue to feel pressure to pass a capital bill. Blagojevich suggested to Construction Executive that Blagojevich had the power to go forward with either of the two Tollway roadbuilding programs without the approval of the legislature. In response, Construction Executive told Blagojevich that he was in favor of the building programs because the concrete industry really needed the work.”

Get the money in before the law changes

“Shortly thereafter in the meeting, Blagojevich said he wanted to talk about campaign contributions. Blagojevich talked about the change in Illinois law that would restrict the ability of companies that did work with the State of Illinois to contribute money to him, and how that law would take effect by the end of the year. Blagojevich asked for Construction Executive’s help raising money and indicated that Blagojevich wanted to raise the money before the end of the year.

Fobbed off

“Blagojevich asked Construction Executive how much money he could raise. When Construction Executive initially indicated that he did not know, Blagojevich again brought up the Tollway program and discussed additional projects that could be done if the larger program were done. At the end of the meeting, Construction Executive was again asked about how much money he thought he could raise for Blagojevich. Construction Executive indicated that he would have to go back to his people and talk to them about it.

“Both Monk and Construction Executive understood that Blagojevich was making a connection in the meeting between the amount of money that Construction Executive might be able to raise for Blagojevich and his willingness to do the larger Tollway program. As a result of Blagojevich’s statements, Construction Executive felt pressure from Blagojevich to raise money for Blagojevich so that he would allow the larger Tollway program to go forward.

“After Construction Executive left the meeting, Blagojevich directed Monk to ask Construction Executive to raise $500,000 in contributions, which money Monk understood would come both from Construction Executive’s own company as well as from other companies in the road building industry.

Blagojevich: “If they don’t perform (pay up) fuck ’em”

“On October 6, 2008, Blagojevich met with Lobbyist A at the offices of Friends of Blagojevich (“FOB”) offices. During their meeting, Blagojevich mentioned an upcoming announcement he was planning to make regarding a $1.8 billion project with respect to the Tollway. Blagojevich said words to the effect of, ‘I’ve got Lon going to Construction Executive and asking for $500,000’ and ‘I could have made a larger announcement but wanted to see how they perform by the end of the year. If they don’t perform, fuck ‘em.’

$1.8 billion or $5 billion is the issue

“Lobbyist A knew that Construction Executive was involved with a trade association that would benefit from the proposed $1.8 billion project. Lobbyist A understood Blagojevich to mean was that he expected that Construction Executive would raise $500,000 in contributions to FOB and that Blagojevich was willing to commit additional state money to the project beyond the $1.8 billion but was waiting to see how much money interested entities raised for FOB before the end of the year.

“In mid-October 2008, Blagojevich announced a plan for a $1.8 billion Tollway building program. On about October 22, 2008, Blagojevich called Construction Executive. Blagojevich talked about the $1.8 billion program and asked Construction Executive something like ‘How are you coming with the fund raising?'”

But the US Government account has it that Construction Executive was in fact stringing the governor along, not saying yes, not saying no.

Here’s the official account quoting from p55 and p56:

“Construction Executive indicated to Blagojevich that he was working on raising money, but that was not true. Construction Executive did not, in fact, plan on raising any money for Blagojevich, but Construction Executive did not want to say that for fear that Blagojevich would be less inclined to go forward with the larger Tollway project. Construction Executive ultimately did not make or arrange for any contributions to be made to Blagojevich.

“(Flack) Monk also continued to stay in touch with Construction Executive about potential contributions to Blagojevich, and consistently reported on the status of those conversations to Blagojevich and Robert Blagojevich, including on November 24, 2008 (Blagojevich Call #1005).22/”

That’s the extent of the Tollway involvement in the 91 page document from US Attorney Fitzgerald.

The Governor tried to use his power over key Tollway decisions to extort money from companies wanting business with the Tollway. But he failed.

Of Blagojevich, apparently, the Construction Executive rightly said “Fuck ‘im.”

Under his breath anyway.

BACKGROUND: Blagojevich, a Democrat was arrested by US marshals Dec 9 2008 charged with extensive corruption, the most spectacular count being an effort sell to the highest bidder the US Senate seat vacated by Barack Obama after his election as US President.  Blagojevich as governor had the power to appoint a successor to Obama.

An oddly youthful looking man he’s in fact53 (born 1956-12-10) his full name is Milorad Blagojevich, his first name anglicized and simplified to Rod. Born and raised on the northwest side of Chicago to Serb immigrants he worked as shoeshiner, pizza delivery, and in a meat plant. He is said to have washed dishes in a camp on the Trans Alaskan Pipeline.

Wikipedia on his education: “Blagojevich graduated from Chicago’s Foreman High School after transferring from Lane Technical High School. He played basketball in high school and participated in two fights after training as a Golden Gloves boxer.[19] After graduation, he enrolled at the University of Tampa.[20] After two years, he transferred to Northwestern University in suburban Evanston where he graduated with a BA in history in 1979. He later (obtained) his JD from the Pepperdine University School of Law in 1983. He later said of the experience: ‘I went to law school at a place called Pepperdine in Malibu, California, overlooking the Pacific Ocean — a lot of surfing and movie stars and all the rest. I barely knew where that law library was.’ ”

He married Patricia Mell the daunter of Richard Mell a Chicago alderman.  He clerked for another Chicago alderman, then got a job as an assistant prosecutor under famous mayor Richard M Daley, when Daley was State’s Attorney.

His influential father-in-law appears tog have launched him on his political career – first in the state house, then as a US Congressman for the 5th district  (Chicago). He seems to have been a good campaigner but kept out of the spotlight as a state and US representative.

His predecessor as Illinois governor George Ryan, a Republican, also an extortionist and thief, is serving time in a federal jail.

TOLLROADSnews 2010-04-14

Link to article here.

Mr. Dixon has been a stalwart supporter of the cause for many years. He’s sacrificed more hours than we can count in Austin advocating for taxpayers on transportation issues. This article was also published in the Lone Star Report. It hits the nail on the head of how we move forward…

Tired of Gridlock? Try Principled Road Policy
by Don P. Dixon
Dallas Morning News, Guest blogger
Mon, Apr 12, 2010

The main reasons Texans are stuck in traffic is a massive failure in public road policy, lack of reforms and inefficiency at TxDOT. The fact is that public roads are a low priority for the state.

In 30 years the state budget went up 8.66 times – from $10.22 billion in 1980 to $88.57 billion in 2009.

In the same 30 years, road work went up 2.69 times from $1.58 billion to $4.25 billion.

In 1980, Texas spent 15.45 percent of state budget on road work (maintenance and new construction). In 2009 Texas spent 4.8 percent of state budget on road work.

Whether state leaders believe it or not, in 30 years road work priority and efficiency continue to deteriorate. Car and truck drivers have paid billions in gas taxes and registration fees to build and maintain the roads, but almost half is diverted away from public roads. All gas tax and registration fees should go to public roads.

Taxpayer restitution of at least $12 billion needs to be corrected by temporarily transferring auto/truck sales tax (including parts sales) to public roads, almost $4 billion per year.

Before the public is asked to pay more in new taxes, reform of road policy must occur:

1. Stop building roads with debt such as $12 billion state road debt and $12.7 billion plus off-budget toll road debt.

2. The toll road debt and costs to run toll road bureaucracy are unacceptable, unaffordable, and unsustainable.

3. End diversions completely.

4. Increase TxDOT efficiency and stop wasteful spending.

5. TxDOT must halt the siphoning of billions of dollars from public roads to convert public right of ways into toll roads, i.e., stop tolls, stop CDAs (privatizing road ways).

6. End non-traditional financing (innovative financing).

The off-budget tax increases the state leaders have laid on drivers through tolls and privatizing Texas roads are confiscatory taxes. This must be stopped.

The toll tax of 17 cents to 75 cents per mile means the driver pays $4 to $17 per gallon extra for toll roads.

The 87 toll roads TxDOT has on its books will cost Texans, optimistically speaking, a minimum of $177 billion in toll tax over 22 years, which annualized is more than the current TxDOT budget.

No one likes tax increases; however, if additional funds areneeded after reforms, the statewide gas tax per gallon is the most efficient and most fiscally responsible way to fund roads.

With regard to the local option tax, Gov. Pat Neff (father of the public road system) learned it served only to create a patchwork road system. He saw it was a failed system, so he founded the statewide highway system.

A uniform statewide public road system funded at the state level – freely accessible by all citizens, regardless of income, status or location – is the proper and rightful duty of the state.

The once superior ranking of the Texas public road system was lost by compromising sound, principled road policy. Thus we are in road gridlock.

Restoration of an equitable statewide public road system will come about only through our elected leaders, in every branch of government, recognizing the cause and courageously mandating an accountable agency using best practices and a sound fiscal policy in order to regain the taxpayers’ trust.

Don Dixon is a retired engineer who lives in San Antonio.

Link to article here. Electronic toll equipment continues to be rife with problems that fine and harass innocent motorists. Refunds are late in coming if ever, but bills and fines sure aren’t!

Toll road computer needs glasses
Misreads an 8 as a 0; issues fine to Army wife in South Korea
By Jon Yates
CHICAGO TRIBUNE
What’s Your Problem?
April 11, 2010

It’s pretty clear Heather Perry didn’t blow through a toll without paying March 10, 2009.

For one thing, she was half a world away, living with her Air Force husband, stationed at Osan Air Base in South Korea.

For another, she didn’t own the car photographed by an Illinois tollway camera. Even the license plate number was wrong. Perry’s plate, which sat in a storage facility in California, ends in a zero. The license plate in the picture ends in an eight.

By the time the notice of violation arrived at her mother’s Broadview home, there had been three violations mistakenly attributed to Perry.

Each missed $1 toll had been assessed a $20 fine, bringing the total to $63. The notice of violation gave Perry 14 days to respond. If she didn’t, she would be found liable for the tolls and assessed another $150 in fines.

Her mother, Phyllis Perry, forwarded her the letter immediately.

“Because she’s in Korea, she went ahead and paid,” Phyllis Perry said. “I told her not to. I said we have some time. I think she was worried she’d get fined, and it would double. She didn’t feel like she could fight it.”

A short time later, Phyllis Perry called the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority and pleaded her case. A customer service representative reviewed the case and agreed with her.

Turns out, a computer that reads the license plates of toll violators had erroneously interpreted the eight as a zero. A toll authority worker who is supposed to review the computer’s work failed to catch the computer’s error.

The customer service agent promised to send Perry a $63 refund.

That was more than a year ago.

Phyllis Perry had almost forgotten about the refund until she received another notice from toll authority last month. It seemed history had repeated itself.

The same car that blew through three toll plazas in 2009 had blown through another three this year. Again, the tollway’s computer misread the license plate. So did the toll authority’s human employees.

For the second year in a row, the toll authority sent Perry a notice that she owed $63.

“It’s the same car, the same license plate, the same exits as the car that did this in 2009,” Phyllis Perry said. “It’s very, very crazy.”

Phyllis Perry said she called the toll authority again, and a customer service representative immediately agreed to erase the newest batch of fines. Phyllis Perry then asked about the status of her daughter’s refund from last year.

“She told me you have to be patient.”

Patience is one thing. But an entire year? Tired of waiting, she e-mailed What’s Your Problem?

“I’m very, very frustrated,” the mother said. “It bothers me that they want more money for things going on in the state, and they can’t take care of this one little problem.”

The Problem Solver called toll authority spokeswoman Joelle McGinnis, who looked into Perry’s case. A few days later, McGinnis called back with a mea culpa. Put simply, the toll authority dropped the ball.

“We have documentation of the request for the refund coming to our contracted customer service center,” McGinnis said. “Unfortunately, that request never was processed.”

It has been now. McGinnis said the request was hand delivered to the appropriate office on Wednesday. Perry should be getting her check for $63 within about a week, McGinnis said.

Phyllis Perry said she will call her daughter and inform her of the good news. When the check arrives, she will forward it to Korea immediately.

She said the process still bothers her.

“When I called them this last time, (the customer service agent) told me I just have to be patient, that these things take time,” Phyllis Perry said. “She should have told me it wasn’t in the system, and we could have gone from there.”

Not that she’s too upset.

“At least it’s coming now,” she said. “As long as it’s coming, I’m happy.”

Link to article here.

Perhaps the most disturbing part of this policy shift is that we already have a litany problems caused by diverting gas taxes AWAY from roads. Diverting yet more money away from roads is stealing from Peter to pay Paul. We pay gas taxes to build and maintain our roadways. It’s supposed to be a dedicated fund that cannot be touched for other purposes. Mass transit, bike lanes, walkways need to be paid for through other means, particularly when the road funding shortfalls have caused massive new tax hikes through tolling (75 cents a mile to drive our public roads compared to 1-2 cents per mile under the gas tax system).

LaHood’s cavalier attitude about government intrusion and its attempts to coerce people out of their cars by starving their gas taxes to pay for non-road uses is equally disturbing.

“It is a way to coerce people out of their cars,” said LaHood…“About everything we do around here is government intrusion in people’s lives…So have at it.”

Obama Transportation Secretary: ‘This Is the End of Favoring Motorized Transportation at the Expense of Non-Motorized’
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Terence P. Jeffrey, Editor-in-Chief
CNS News.com

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. (AP Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari)

(CNSNews.com) – Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has announced that federal transportation policies will no longer favor “motorized” transportation, such as cars and trucks, over “non-motorized” transportation, such as walking and bicycling.

LaHood signed the new policy directive on March 11, the same day he attended a congressional reception for the National Bike Summit, a convention sponsored by a bicycling advocacy group, the League of American Bicyclists. LaHood publicly announced his agency’s new direction four days later in a posting on his blog—“Fast Lane: The Official Blog of the U.S. Secretary of Transportation”–where he effusively described it as a “sea change” for the United States.

“Today, I want to announce a sea change,” LaHood wrote. “People across America who value bicycling should have a voice when it comes to transportation planning. This is the end of favoring motorized transportation at the expense of non-motorized.”

LaHood’s policy statement not only called for this change to take place in programs funded by the federal government, but also said the federal government would “encourage” state and local governments to do the same in their own programs.

“The establishment of well-connected walking and bicycling networks is an important component for livable communities, and their design should be a part of Federal-aid project developments,” said LaHood’s policy statement.

“Because of the benefits they provide, transportation agencies should give the same priority to walking and bicycling as is given to other transportation modes,” it said.

LaHood’s policy statement envisions the development of a transportation system in which people walk and bike for short distances and rely on mass transit for longer trips. “The primary goal of a transportation system is to safely and efficiently move people and goods,” said LaHood’s statement. “Walking and bicycling are efficient transportation modes for most short trips and, where convenient intermodal systems exist, these nonmotorized trips can easily be linked with transit to significantly increase trip distance.”

On May 21, LaHood told reporters at the National Press Club that the “Partnership for Sustainable Communities’ his department had formed with the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Housing—sometimes known as the “livability initiative”–was designed to “coerce” people out of their cars.

“Some in the highway-supporters motorist groups have been concerned by your livability initiative,” said the moderator at the National Press Club event. “Is this an effort to make driving more torturous and to coerce people out of their cars?”

“It is a way to coerce people out of their cars,” said LaHood.

The moderator later asked: “Some conservative groups are wary of the livable communities program, saying it’s an example of government intrusion into people’s lives. How do you respond?”

“About everything we do around here is government intrusion in people’s lives,” said LaHood. “So have at it.”

Motorists now pay a federal tax of 18.3 cents on every gallon of gasoline they buy, and 24.4 cents on every gallon of diesel fuel. These taxes fund the federal Highway Trust Fund. According to a study by the Heritage Foundation, 26 percent of the money in this trust fund was diverted in fiscal 2008 to pay for things other than highways and roads. Of the total of $52 billion spent that was spent that year, $9.7 billion went to mass transit, even though mass transit passengers accounted for only 1.6 percent of surface-transportation passengers. The highway trust fund also gave $80 million that year to build trails.