Cuomo proposes Thruway toll freeze, $22B for roads

ALBANY - Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Wednesday that he wants to put $22 billion toward upstate’s aging roads and bridges while spending another $1 billion to freeze tolls on the state Thruway.

Cuomo laid out part of his transportation plan at an event Wednesday in Liverpool, Onondaga County, the latest stop in a statewide tour this week that has seen him slowly roll out his agenda for 2016 ahead of his State of the State address and budget proposal next Wednesday, Jan. 13.

The Democratic governor offered few specifics on his infrastructure spending push, but said the $22 billion would be spread out over five years. He also proposed spending an extra $30 million on upstate New York’s public-transportation systems, on top of the state's usual transit spending.

When it comes to the Thruway, Cuomo proposed spending $1 billion in state funds to keep the Thruway’s current toll rates in place through 2020. Cuomo’s plan would also eliminate tolls for agricultural traffic, while offering a tax credit worth 50 percent of tolls for passenger vehicles with E-Z Pass that rack up more than $50 in tolls annually and commercial drivers with at least $100.

The latest proposals would put significant money into upstate New York’s aging roads and bridges, which local government officials and construction advocates have long called for. And it would also further subsidize the state Thruway Authority, pushing off any politically poisonous debates on highway tolls for the next four years.

“It will make a real difference in people’s pockets,” Cuomo said of the toll freeze, which would also apply to the Tappan Zee Bridge and the new $3.9 billion bridge between Westchester and Rockland counties. “It will make a difference in commuters’ pockets. It will make a difference in the pockets of businesses, and it will make yet another very loud statement to businesses that upstate New York is the place to do business.”

Who will it impact?

According to Cuomo’s office, 911,743 drivers would qualify for the tax credit, along with 26,139 businesses and 976 commercial trucks.

Cuomo has been crisscrossing the state in recent days, including a stop Tuesday in Rochester to unveil a small-business tax cut proposal.

The governor did not specify where the money for the infrastructure boost and Thruway freeze would come from, though the state is sitting on about $2 billion from financial settlements with banks and insurers.

He will formally unveil his budget proposal next week before starting negotiations with the Legislature. Legislators have until April 1 to put an on-time spending plan in place.

If approved by lawmakers, it would mark the second time in as many years the state has subsidized the Thruway Authority, which maintains the 570-mile superhighway system and the Tappan Zee Bridge.

Last March, Cuomo and the Legislature agreed to send $1.3 billion to the authority, of which about $900 million went to the Tappan Zee construction and the rest went toward freezing tolls for the year.

How will it be funded?

In a news release, Cuomo’s office said $700 million of the new $1 billion proposal would go toward Thruway infrastructure. It did not specify how much of that would be reserved for Tappan Zee Bridge construction costs.

Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, D-Bronx, said he would wait to see Cuomo’s full budget proposal before weighing in.

“I don’t want to give a personal opinion on some of these things,” said Heastie, who leads the Assembly’s Democratic conference. “Like I said, we’ll take the governor’s proposals and we’ll begin to discuss them as a conference after he introduces them formally.”

The plan received praise from the state Farm Bureau, which has long pushed for an agricultural exemption from tolls.

For noncommercial motorists, the Thruway toll is about $13 to travel one way from Albany to Buffalo.

“Tolls can be especially costly for farmers who are transporting local products into New York City,” said Steve Ammerman, a spokesman for the Farm Bureau. “This proposal by the Governor is a sensible, business friendly approach that we need in New York to reduce costs and grow jobs.”

Reactions vary

Others questioned why the state continues to subsidize the Thruway Authority, which previously existed largely on its toll revenue.

E.J. McMahon, president of the Empire Center, a fiscally conservative think tank, noted the tax breaks alone amount to $107 million a year, based on the Governor’s Office’s estimates on the number of eligible drivers and average tax beak.

Truck drivers, meanwhile, welcomed Cuomo’s proposal.

An independent owner/operator who contracts with Corrigan Moving Systems in Rochester, Matt Raspudic, said this past week alone he and his driver have been back-and-forth to Buffalo and Syracuse, “and those tolls add up when they can be as much as $50-$60 bucks a pop.”

“I think it’s a great idea,” he said. “Getting some relief would really be a good idea.”

Plus, he said, offering a credit for some tolls could help ensure more truck drivers stick to the Thruway, rather than seeking alternate, cheaper routes that aren’t as well-equipped to handle big commercial vehicles.

“The Thruway is the best-kept road in the state, and if you were getting half the money back I think more guys would use the Thruway,” he said.

The eastbound toll on the Tappan Zee Bridge is currently $5, and the first span of the new bridge is scheduled to open in 2017.

The toll on the new bridge has been a mystery since construction began, while the $5 toll on the current span has remained steady. Cuomo created a task force late last year to recommend a long-term toll rate for the replacement bridge.

“For everyone it freezes tolls until 2020, so there will be no toll increase on the Thruway for everyone on any level until 2020,” Cuomo said Wednesday, without mentioning the bridge.

Mike Durant, state director of the National Federation of Independent Business, said small businesses welcome Cuomo’s proposal, though he said they remain cognizant of the Thruway’s financial position and the need for investing in its infrastructure.

“You need to put a band-aid somewhere on a high cost for small employers, and if this means a reprieve from the endless battle over toll hikes, then we’ll have to take that,” Durant said.

Help for farmers

Exempting agricultural traffic from Thruway tolls could save John B. Martin and Sons Farms Inc. in Clarkson as much as $29,000 a year.

“Getting out produce to market is an expensive venture for all farmers,” said Cathy Martin. The family farm raises primarily squash and pumpkins on more than 3,100 acres of land in Monroe County. “This is the kind of policy we need, tax breaks like this help us to expand our business and reinvest in our farm.”

Kendra Lamb is community relations manager with Lamb Farms in Oakfield, Genesee County, a family dairy operation with more than 6,000 dairy cows at three milking facilities.

“This would be excellent for agricultural businesses, especially with the push for supporting local foods,” she said. “A lot of colleagues are bringing their produce to market and this would benefit them and we would also see a benefit with the milk trucks, a lot of our milk is processed in Buffalo.”

Follow Jon Campbell on Twitter @joncampbellgan.

Democrat and Chronicle staff writer Meaghan McDermott contributed to this report.