Gov.
Corzine says he will decide by May whether to sell or lease state
assets — including toll roads — to help cut property taxes and pay down
debt. That would give the state a large cash infusion in the near term.
But it also could cause some major headaches — financial and otherwise
— well into the future.
Leasing
the state's toll roads is a one-shot budget gimmick — something Corzine
pledged to avoid. Two recent deals in other parts of the country have
state officials salivating: Chicago will get $1.83 billion for a
99-year lease of toll roads and Indiana will get $3.85 billion for a
75-year lease. But Chicago and Indiana motorists will also get
skyrocketing tolls and roads that may not be maintained to standards to
which they are accustomed.
"The
unintended consequences of this bad public policy are nearly
incalculable," Sen. Anthony Bucco, R-Morris, said Wednesday. He's right.
A
broad coalition of groups — labor, environmental and anti-tax — urged
the state Tuesday to proceed with caution before agreeing to lease the
state's toll roads to a private company. As John Budzash, chairman of
Hands Across New Jersey, put it: "If we can't do the job better than a
private business, we are being run extremely poorly." He also echoed a
lament we've often heard from our readers: that Corzine should start
using his business acumen and run the state like a business. You don't
sell off some of your best assets to close a short-term deficit —
particularly if there are other cost-cutting options on the table.
Abigail
C. Field, a lobbyist for the New Jersey Public Interest Research Group,
said there are few, if any, scenarios in which private ownership of the
state's highways would benefit the taxpayers.
When
Corzine was still a candidate, he spoke of his plans to reduce New
Jersey's reliance on borrowed funds and budget gimmicks while
protecting assets. In his March 21 budget speech, his second of four
principles was: "We must stop borrowing and using gimmicks to pay
today's bills." Leasing our toll roads runs counter to everything he's
said — and to sound public policy.
Weary
of short-term budgetary fixes that have done nothing to solve the
state's long-term fiscal problems, New Jersey taxpayers should be more
than skeptical of any plans to sell public assets that can only provide
short-term property tax relief.
Corzine
should dust off the "Management 101" agenda he boasted about as a
candidate. The state should be able to run the toll roads less
expensively and more efficiently and safely than a private company. It
will take a leader with the gumption to toss out the political hacks
and eliminate the no-show jobs and waste in the system. That's what
voters expected when they elected Corzine: to see efficient business
practices put into place. Not to make their roads a profit center for a
private company.
