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07/10/2019 08:15 AMThis past legislative session, the Connecticut General Assembly debated possibly implementing some controversial initiatives, key among them being the possibility of putting tolls back on Connecticut roads. With an issue this big, some municipalities have taken a stance on the issue, but the Guilford Board of Selectmen (BOS) recently decided it would not do so.
The legislative session came to a close on June 5 once the General Assembly approved the budget. The adopted budget did not include a plan to implement tolls, but legislators have said the issue is far from over—the issue could come back as early as later this summer when legislators head back to Hartford to adopt the annual bond package. Governor Ned Lamont has asked the legislature to reconsider a toll proposal at the same time.
Tolls have been tossed around as a solution to Connecticut’s rapidly deteriorating infrastructure problem. Funding any sort of transportation repairs or improvements has been a hot-button issue in Hartford. Tolls have been widely debated as a way to fund the Special Transportation Fund (STF), which funds transportation projects. Without new funding, the STF could become insolvent sometime in the 2020s.
Connecticut will borrow hundreds of millions of dollars for transportation repairs this year and Lamont has stated that tolls, which projections show could raise somewhere between $600- to $800 million a year, is a better revenue source. However, opponents of tolls have pushed back on the number of electronic tolls that would be placed on I-84, I-91, I-95, and the Merritt Parkway. Republicans have also pushed the state to first look at existing revenue sources before adding another tax.
Landing in Guilford
All decisions relating to tolls are out of the hands of any individual municipal leader. However, with so many strong opinions out there on the issue, a resident recently asked the Guilford BOS to take a position on the issue. At a BOS meeting on July 1, First Selectman Matt Hoey said the board declines the request.
“Quite honestly I am not sure that it is appropriate for this board to make a recommendation,” he said.
The board was unanimous in that opinion. Selectman Charles Havrda said this is not a decision the five selectmen could make for the whole town.
“I wouldn’t want to make a decision without hearing what the rest of the town thinks...I have my personal opinions about it, but I am not going to say Guilford wants or Guilford doesn’t want unless I find out what the citizens of Guilford do or don’t want.”
Havrda also pointed out that the toll proposal has shifted numerous times and will likely change again.
“I would be hesitant to make a decision because you don’t know what you are making a decision on,” he said. “To give a blanket statement—you don’t know what you are for or against at this point.”
Hoey said for those would like to learn more about the current toll proposal, a link to a report from the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities is available on the town website.