State News

Audit Finds Real Trouble in PA Turnpike Commission Expenses

TURNPIKE: Drivers are paying more to use the Pennsylvania Turnpike, but the executives charged with running the highway are spending those toll dollars on expensive meals and hotel rooms, without accountability or transparency.

By Eric Boehm | PA Independent HARRISBURG – In February 2010, one or more commissioners of the Pennsylvania Turnpike walked into a Harrisburg restaurant. They, perhaps with guests, rang up a bill of nearly $500. But it’s impossible to determine the punch line of that joke because auditors who recently examined the turnpike’s expense accounts say there is no way to know much else about what happened at the restaurant. Like most expenses incurred by the top officials of the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission, there were no receipts and no information about the number of individuals involved, the content of their orders or the legitimate business purpose for the gathering. A regularly scheduled performance audit of the Turnpike Commission …

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Helene

2:11 pm on Monday, January 14, 2013

Without receipts or detailed information in the expense voucher, it is impossible to verify any of that information. Did you get that WITHOUT RECEIPTS. If you went to get reinbursed as a everyday citizen. YOU NEED RECEIPTS to get your money back or you eat the expense. Try pulling that on Income tax. I say this is corruption at the worst! They would not get reinbursed if they worked for me. I …   more ›

State News

Turnpike Scheme Cost Pa. Taxpayers $108 Million, Auditor General Says

Interest rate swaps by Pa. Turnpike Commission cost taxpayers and motorists at least $108.9 million, according to Pa. Auditor General Jack Wagner

The following press release was provided by the Pa. Auditor General: Auditor General Jack Wagner said that an audit released Wednesday of the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission has found that the turnpike’s involvement in interest-rate swaps has cost Pennsylvania taxpayers and turnpike motorists at least $108.9 million. Turnpike tolls rose Jan. 6  Wagner said the turnpike’s strategy was to use the swaps to save money, but it has instead proved to further saddle the debt-ridden commission by not using conventional fixed-rate bonds to finance its debt. Under Act 44, a Lease and Funding Agreement was entered into by the turnpike and PennDOT, which requires the turnpike to pay PennDOT $450 million a year, or nearly $24 billion, over a period of …

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Turnpike Toll Increases Start on Sunday

Pennsylvania Turnpike toll rates will increase on Jan. 6 by 10 percent for cash customers and 2 percent for E-ZPass customers.

The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission is reminding travelers that the toll rates will increase on Jan. 6 by 10 percent for cash customers and 2 percent for E-ZPass customers. According to a statement released by the Turnpike Commission, E-ZPass customers who now see about a 17-percent savings on tolls will save about 25 percent, on average, compared to cash. The new rates – which take effect at 12:01 a.m. this Sunday – are expected to generate approximately $25 million in new revenue in 2013. "The toll increase is needed, in part, to satisfy the Turnpike's obligation to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to help address a transportation-funding shortfall," the statement says. "Under Act 44 of 2007, the Turnpike continues to make annual …

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State News

PA Turnpike CEO Roger Nutt Quits

PA Turnpike CEO steps down amid spiraling debt, state investigation. He says it's taking a toll on his health.

By Eric Boehm | PA Independent HARRISBURG — Roger Nutt, CEO of the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission, abruptly resigned Tuesday. Nutt was appointed by Gov. Tom Corbett in 2011 to head the government agency that directs the 450-mile toll road system. He came out of retirement to accept the position and said in a brief statement he was resigning to return to retirement. Nutt, 72, told fellow members of the commission he felt fatigued, stressed and was unable to perform at the level expected. “I have decided that, for my long-term health, it is best I resign at this time,” Nutt said in a statement. He is the father of Corbett’s longtime adviser and former campaign manager Brian Nutt. As the turnpike’s CEO, he made a salary of $196,000. His …

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Turnpike Tolls to Increase for Cash Customers in New Year

Turnpike customers encouraged to get E-ZPass now to avoid higher tolls in the New Year.

HARRISBURG, Pa. -- The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission reminds customers that fares are set to go up on most of the state's toll roads by 10 percent on Jan. 1, 2012 for cash-paying travelers only. Because electronic-toll rates will not go up, E-ZPass customers will pay about 17 percent less than cash customers, on average, starting next year. (E-ZPass users presently pay 7 percent less, on average, than cash customers on the Pa. Turnpike.) With the new rates -- that will take effect at 12:01 a.m. -- the most-common cash toll for passenger vehicles will increase from $1.10 to $1.25 while the most-common cash toll for a standard commercial-truck classification (Class 5) will rise from $8.95 to $9.85. (The 2012 fares were determined by …

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