To the Editor,

After being directly referenced several times in a letter last week, I feel compelled to respond and clarify. Firstly, my disagreement with the author was with their general sentiment, and I never intended a point-by-point response. I continue to hold that tolls will end up being another tax on the middle class.

The calculation of what a Newtown commuter could pay was based on the May 2, 2018 Hartford Courant article “If Tolls Come to Connecticut, This Is How Much Your Commute Could Cost,” which said in-state commuters would pay 3.5 cents per mile. The Courant does several similar calculations. These are based on a “best case scenario,” and other options to generate the revenue requested exceeds the rates in other states (Massachusetts charges approximately 4 cents/mile.) Remember 70 percent of the tolls costs will fall on Connecticut residents, and it is unlikely the gas tax would be proportionately decreased.

The projected $0.50 number outlined in a 2016 study is per toll station along the trip, and there could be as many as nine stations based on the cited study’s recommendation of 11 between Hartford and the New York border. 50 cents times nine stations each way, times two ways/day, times five day/week, times 48 weeks/year equals $2,160/year. This scenario was discussed in the February 3, 2018 Courant article “‘Congesting Pricing’ Is A Likely Option If Connecticut Adds Tolls.” The other options don’t create the revenue to justify tolling and are likely a loss leader to sell us on tolls.

While the author makes a valid point about different circumstances between states, the high numbers are not refuted and should raise a flag. Connecticut puts a disproportionate amount of expenses under the umbrella of “transportation,” acknowledged in the DOT’s response to the Reason study. This is the way by which toll revenue would be spent in other areas and speaks to my point about a locked box.

The majority has shown no fiscal discipline with funds such as in FY 2015 when all $172.8 million in scheduled General Fund Revenue Sharing for the Special Transportation Fund was diverted. The money is there to fix our roads, it just being spent on other things, hence tolls would be another tax.

There is another way pro-tolls folks are not talking about, a plan many in the Legislature are calling “Prioritize Progress.” This would make infrastructure a priority, stop the diversion of resources, operate under the bonding cap, and allocate $100 million more annually in each of the next two years. It would mean cutting the pork and bureaucracy that siphons off these funds and spending our state and federal dollars where they are intended. All with no tolls or new taxes.

I do not see local residents and businesses as an endless resource of new revenue. Let’s audit our departments, focus funding where it is intended, and prioritize.

My comments are my own and not on behalf of the Legislative Council of which I am a member.

Ryan Knapp

11 Jeremiah Road, Sandy Hook August 22, 2018