RE: Rescind Plans to Spend $11 million in Non-Bridge Projects at the Feb. 18 Board Meeting

Dear Gov. Rendell:

We, the undersigned, respectfully request that you move to immediately suspend all economic development activities of the Delaware River Port Authority (DRPA).

As the Authority’s self-appointed Chairman, you have the power to put an end to this misguided policy.

The DRPA has spent nearly $400 million on economic development projects, most of which have no relation to the bridges. Since these monies were derived from bonds, and had no return on the dollar, the Authority now finds itself in a precarious financial position.

Over 75 percent of every dollar is allocated to salaries, pensions and debt service, and the DRPA is $1.2 billion in debt. Making matters worse, it cannot fund its capital infrastructure improvements, such as the re-decking of the Walt Whitman Bridge. As a result, commuters are left wondering if the bridges on which they travel are indeed safe.

On top of this, the DRPA has announced it will be issuing more bonds (i.e., more debt) in the range of $500 million to $1 billion.

The taxpayers, of course, are forced to bear the brunt of this folly — through a 33 percent toll hike last year, and another 33 percent increase next year.

Accordingly, we urge you to allocate the remaining $35 million in economic development funds to capital projects, and cancel the DRPA’s plans to approve the $11 million in non-bridge projects authorized by a committee at the January board meeting.

With your state facing a $2.3 billion budget shortfall and an electorate increasingly cynical about the effective operation of government at all levels, we hope you will consider our request to bring accountability and fiscal sanity back to the Delaware River Port Authority.

Sincerely,

Marc D. Collazzo, Esquire, Chairman, The Loyal Opposition

The letter originally appeared in The Bulletin on February 17, 2009.
http://www.thebulletin.us/articles/2009/02/17/news/local_state/doc499a54...