It is about time that the state has finally admitted that it is unfair and unsustainable for the Turnpike Commission to raise tolls annually.

In a just-released audit, state Auditor General Eugene DePasquale has made the strongest case yet that this so-called “road to ruin” needs better answers – and fast.

DePasquale, who many feel will be a Democratic candidate for governor in 2022, unleashed a blistering attack on the mechanics of how the commission has amassed $11.8 billion in debt.

If you thought the commission was rolling in dough thanks to its annual and annoying rate increases, you’d be wrong. Hey, if you can’t figure it out, you are not alone.

DePasquale sounded the alarm three years ago that there is a stench coming from the nation’s oldest toll road.

“The Turnpike Commission, once viewed by some as a cash cow, has been milked to the brink of collapse,” DePasquale said.

Let’s look at the commission’s strategy. It says that it expects to triple toll rates with annual toll increases every year until at least 2044 to keep up with repairs, pay down its staggering debt load and prevent the operation from plunging into an even greater pothole of financial chaos.

As I pointed out in previous critical opinion columns, DePasquale agrees that this may lead drivers to avoid the highway and use alternate routes which are ill-equipped to handle the overflow and congestion.

DePasquale said there are already signs that traffic growth on the turnpike has stagnated with the continuing rise in tolls.

At the heart of the commission’s woes is a hastily enacted 2007 state law that requires the turnpike to make significant payments to the state Department of Transportation to finance other types of transportation projects and services.

Why such a law came into effect is a matter of speculation, because it would seem reasonable that turnpike tolls should be used to handle turnpike expenses exclusively and that PennDOT funding would be handled from a separate pot of money.

Starting in 2008, turnpike tolls have increased well above the annual inflation rate every year, and to keep up with its PennDOT obligations, the commission has had to go into debt.

“The turnpike simply cannot continue to raise tolls to cover the legally mandated payments to PennDOT,” DePasquale said. “Hiking tolls year after year while hoping that E-ZPass users won’t notice is not a sustainable revenue plan, and it causes a financial hardship for motorists.”

If the commission’s rosy traffic and revenue projections are not met, it is likely that it will default on its debt payments, plunging the state into a major financial crisis.

If this set of circumstances were not dire enough, there is a further complication. A truckers’ group has filed suit, claiming that Pennsylvania is violating federal law by making turnpike motorists pay for non-turnpike services and projects.

This lawsuit has resulted in stopping the turnpike from borrowing more money and deferring several PennDOT payments this year. The ripple effect of this action has put many PennDOT projects on hold. On top of this, transit providers are worried that they may have to curtail service for riders if there is a decline in state support.

On April 3, a federal judge dismissed the lawsuit, ruling that the truckers’ group did not convince her that the action violated the commerce clause of the U.S. Constitution or the constitutional right to travel.

The truckers’ attorney said that he will appeal the decision of Judge Yvette Kane, who sits on the federal bench in Harrisburg.

PennDOT Secretary Leslie Richards echoed DePasquale’s concern, saying that the lawsuit could have a “catastrophic” impact if the state loses in court.

DePasquale has persistently questioned turnpike policy that allows its employees free use of the toll road for business and personal use. Over a three-year period ending in 2018, DePasquale said, employees have received $2.4 million in free travel.

Additionally, toll-free travel is provided to state officials, contractors, consultants, a perk that costs us taxpayers another $5.9 million.

This is wrong, wrong, wrong. Not only that, but it looks bad at a time when the commission can use every nickel it can get its hands on.

The other thing that bugs DePasquale and me is the number of drivers who avoid paying tolls, many of them from out-of-state. During an amnesty period in 2017, scofflaw motorists paid $1.4 million in violations, but this represented just a fraction of what was owed.

In his audit of the turnpike operations, DePasquale also suggests that it review the size of its vehicle fleet. He noted that a review of the fleet in his own department saved taxpayers $877,000 a year.

By Bruce Frassinelli | tneditor@tnonline.com