Nathan Deal: Ga. 400 tolls to come down by end of 2013
More later, but here’s the press release just issued – there’s no mention of it, but clearly the timing is intended to help the July 31 vote on the transportation sales tax:
Fulfilling his promise to commuters, Gov. Nathan Deal today announced that he will have the state pay off its bond debt on Dec. 1, 2013, and move rapidly after that to remove the Ga. 400 toll by the end of that year. This will stop collection four years earlier than previously planned.
“Ga. 400 commuters have paid more than their fair share already, and this is the earliest we can bring it down without paying a penalty for early repayment of the bonds,” Deal said. “When the Ga. 400 toll went up, the state of Georgia promised commuters that it wasn’t forever. If we don’t keep that promise, we lose the faith of the people. We face many challenges when it comes to paying for new capacity, particularly in the Atlanta region. There are no easy answers, no secret pots of money, but it is imperative that governments build the trust of their people. As your governor, I will keep the promises I make to you.”
The Ga. 400 toll was originally scheduled to come down after 20 years, ending in 2011. In 2010 – after then-candidate Deal promised to end the toll the following year – the state issued new bonds tied to the toll revenue in order to pay for needed improvements in the Ga. 400 corridor, including a new connector to I-85. The $40 million in new bonds were issued Dec. 1, 2010, and they mature June 1, 2017. But at the three-year mark the state can repay the bonds without a penalty. Further, the state needs time to plan for physically bringing down the gates and the dramatic restructuring that will be needed in the toll area.
“As I have said many times before: I inherited a situation where we could not bring down the gates immediately, and we face a situation where we would have to pay a penalty for early repayment,” Deal said. “This timeline gives commuters a finish line, while still allowing us to meet our obligations. Moving forward, we’ll need to continue to work on long-term solutions to congestion in the 400 corridor. And I look forward to doing that in a transparent fashion that commuters can trust.”
The governor’s proposal requires approval of the State Road and Tollway Authority.
- By Jim Galloway, Political Insider
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412 comments Add your comment
Hey
July 19th, 2012
12:04 pm
5 million plus metro area people….TOO MANY….good, maybe the NO vote will help some of the bozos move out of this town and bring back our population to a reasonable number to be productive again.
BW
July 19th, 2012
12:06 pm
What’s going to happen after the T-Splost fails is that an all-roads proposal will be crafted and the gas tax increased to fund it. It will use alot of the road proposals in the T-Splost. They will then craft a commuter rail heavy state controlled transit option for Metro Atlanta and put it to the voters. At this point this is the only way this is headed.
Bill Simon
July 19th, 2012
12:06 pm
@YeahRight: I actually think well on my own…of course, I’m not getting paid like the 100 or so hacks on here and on Untie Atlanta/CTM/MAVEN Facebook page are getting paid to post and act like shills.
Ending the Ga. 400 tolls now isn’t a great idea | Kyle Wingfield
July 19th, 2012
12:08 pm
[...] who thinks Gov. Nathan Deal’s plan to end the toll on Ga. 400 by the end of next year, which he announced today, is a bad idea. (For the record, I pay the toll going and coming every [...]
Take back this city
July 19th, 2012
12:08 pm
Who the hell was able to vote and say they wanted atlanta to be an overpopulated, international city to begin with? I never did……MOVE back to your stinkin’ homes that you came from and help make Atlanta great again. Let us Atlantans enjoy Atlanta again.
J
July 19th, 2012
12:09 pm
Its sad to see almost all the people here are against the toll. Most of you are probably the ones that complain about the condition our roads are currently in. Do i think having just the one toll on 400 is fair. No. We need one coming from every direction into the state and especially into the city of atlanta. Georgia has the most “free” roads than almost any other state of its size. If you live in places like new york and boston you go thru several tolls in just one direction. Roads cost money people. suck it up and put the responsibility into the peoples hands to maintain their road. Every person who uses the road should have to pay but getting rid of the toll is insane. The original purpose for the toll may have been paid for but get real people the roads still need maintenance now and this is the best way for it. Also you should stop complaining about the conditions of the road if you dont want to pay for it.
g
July 19th, 2012
12:10 pm
we atlanta residents need to charge the 250000 people who commute here a day, using our roads and resources and then leave at the end of the day an “Atlanta access tax for non residents”
Simple Truths
July 19th, 2012
12:11 pm
I see that VOTE YES has gone from challenging doubts with facts to personal attacks.
(Whoa, that rhymes. Sounds like Jesse Jackson reading Green Eggs and Ham.)
Person
July 19th, 2012
12:11 pm
One disconnect I see here is some are attempting to vehemently defend the Language of HB 277 while others are arguing against the ability of our state politicians to properly live by the language that will be established by this bill. I think the reason you’re not seeing “an educated reason to vote no on TSPLOST” as you rudely put it, is because no one is discussing the lanuage as you are, they are discussing the manipulation of our trust to correctly enforce this language.
realist
July 19th, 2012
12:11 pm
Sorry, too late.
You already lost my trust by the original actions with the 400 toll extension so there is no way I will be voting for TSPLOST.
Vote NO!
July 19th, 2012
12:13 pm
The “Vote YES guy” is a paid shill. Please ignore.
Rufus
July 19th, 2012
12:13 pm
Not believing it and in any case it’s about 10 years too late. Say No! to TSPLOST!
OH Hail NO!
July 19th, 2012
12:13 pm
This is perfect timing isn’t it?
LOL YEAH RIGHT
July 19th, 2012
12:14 pm
@OH Hail NO! That’s what I said when I read the article. Unbelievable. Lol
Steve
July 19th, 2012
12:15 pm
I’m voting “no” to T-SPLOST because I don’t believe levying a sales tax is a fair way to raise revenue as it applies a disproportionately large burden on lower wage earners who live paycheck-to-paycheck. If the state wants to raise capital to fund “necessary” projects, then do it by taxing income. And to those who think only the folks who live due north of the perimeter benefit from the GA-400 extension, think again. If it wasn’t there, all of that traffic would be forced onto the perimter making what is already a very painful commute much worse. Everyone who commutes in the metro area benefits from the GA-400 extension and so its unfair for a relatively small percentage of commuters to have to pay for it.
OH Hail NO!
July 19th, 2012
12:16 pm
To Vote Yes… Are you having Nathan Deal’s love child or are YOU the love child?
Take back this city
July 19th, 2012
12:16 pm
Everyone MOVE…..PLEASE……transplants and inner city politicians have ruined this entire town. It WAS a great city. That’s why you moved here. Now it’s an overpopulated, half-ghetto. Run by idiots that keep trying to transform it into NYC….There is only one NYC and expanding a MARTA or other moneypits isn’t going to make it traffic friendly.
YeahRight
July 19th, 2012
12:16 pm
@Bill – glad you can think.
And I respect your opinion.
And I’m not a paid hack (and I really don’t think our accusation is appropriate.)
But there seems to be lots of repetition of unfounded folklore heard on the airwaves.
I preferred to read the bill, and the list – and although there are some things I don’t like, the good outweighed the bad. It is IMPOSSIBLE to make a list that would please everyone.
It was a compromise (with huge amounts of opportunity for public input that most of the naysayers ignored). In any compromise, there will be things that one side or the other doesn’t like. Otherwise, you have a totalitarian situation, which lack of compromise creates. (My way or the crumbling highway doesn’t create warm fuzzies for anyone.)
And as for the toll booths, deactivate them, but let’s not take them down. We will probably need them to pay for transportation improvements if this fails….
Kyle
July 19th, 2012
12:17 pm
Never vote for a tax no matter what it is because it will not go away. They normally love to say a tax is for the kids so some of these nuts will fall for it and say yes.
Victoria
July 19th, 2012
12:17 pm
I am already paying a tax increase for the SPLOST in Cobb Co. – where they ruin a perfectly functioning 4 lane thoroughfare and create a 6 lane beast on Barrett. Instead of widening other cross routes to 4 lanes – like Kennesaw Due West or Mars Hill. Or, how about widening 41? I for one will NOT pay another SPLOST tax increase if my vote has anything to do with it. Have you seen those commercials about being “Tied UP” in traffic? Doesn’t give you any info about what improvements might be made. And I’m sure those commercials are not cheap to produce. VOTE NO!! NO TSPLOST on 7/31. It will never go away. They don’t reduce taxes, they keep them forever. People wake up!!
LOL YEAH RIGHT
July 19th, 2012
12:17 pm
@VOTE YES!!! You keep saying how TSPLOST and 400 Toll aren’t the same. Which I highly disagree with. BUT, and stay with me on this, even if they weren’t related in the slightest, the fact of the matter is, the government lied about that, what is stopping them from lying about this too?
Incase you haven’t ever picked up on it…THE GOVERNMENT IS CAPABLE OF LYING. And boy do they take full advantage of it.
VOTE YES!!!
July 19th, 2012
12:18 pm
that’s right, if I have a different view I must be paid….logical.
VOTE YES!!!
July 19th, 2012
12:19 pm
@ LOL YEAH RIGHT. So you’re contention is they will rewrite the law at a later date?
Vote Yes = Govt employee
July 19th, 2012
12:20 pm
Vote yes get back to your government job
too little, too late
July 19th, 2012
12:20 pm
If Governor Deal thinks this will help approve the vote, he should have done this a month ago before early voting started. Many people I know that actually do vote have already voted.
GT Trumpet
July 19th, 2012
12:21 pm
I think you are all forgetting that a penny tax is just that. A penny. If you spend $40,000 a year at retail outlets that’s only an extra $400 a year per person. With the projects that would be completed under it, I’m ok losing out on just a bit extra a year.
atlpaddy
July 19th, 2012
12:22 pm
Well this one may come down, but expect a lot more toll booths to go up on highways in Atlanta and throughout Georgia whether the TSPLOST passes or not. Toll roads are an example of Republican private-public partnerships in action!
VOTE YES!!!
July 19th, 2012
12:22 pm
oh, so now i’m a government employee??? LOL. What other reasons are there for me to want my city to flourish and be respectful other than being born and raised here?
LOL YEAH RIGHT
July 19th, 2012
12:24 pm
@VOTE YES!!! Good use of the word “you’re” there.
And yes. Absolutely. I know they will. That’s how the government works. If this goes through, then they will do anything to keep it. Like people are saying, you’re voting for yet another tax, once a tax is implemented, they won’t take it away. Hell, why would they? It’s more money for them.
VOTE YES!!!
July 19th, 2012
12:24 pm
@LOL YEAH RIGHT. Sorry, I was typing fast. Please forgive my grammatical error.
Church of the painful Truth
July 19th, 2012
12:25 pm
Technology in the next 10 years may cut down the numbers on our highways by 50%.A majority of jobs will telework or computers and communications will advance to the point normal office work could and can be done anywhere.Look at all the changes in the last 10 years.Service industries (restaurants,truck delivers and required driving) will be the ones using our roads.Then you have your travelers from other states coming and going.
OH Hail NO!
July 19th, 2012
12:26 pm
Vote yes.. do you know that that there are already federal grants for road up keep?
lawyer talk
July 19th, 2012
12:26 pm
If we have to start paying to drive on our roads, should a drivers license then become a right instead of a privelege (that can be taken away by the state and nazi DDS) Not vice-versa, like it is now according to DDS.
VOTE YES!!!
July 19th, 2012
12:27 pm
@LOL YEAH RIGHT. So you believe that in say 9 years they will cancel HB 277 and create another law extending it past 10 years? And you think they can do this without anyone noticing or caring? That the representatives (republican and democrat) will agree to that?
?
July 19th, 2012
12:30 pm
GT Trumpet – you can give your $400 to whatever you want….but keep your hands off my money. I need it for things you may not have to worry about.
OH Hail NO!
July 19th, 2012
12:33 pm
GT Trumpet sorry dude.. I cant afford it… so pay mine too!
Charles is voting yes
July 19th, 2012
12:33 pm
Unemployment in Georgia went up again and the fed chair said yesterday that this economic quagmire will continue for years to come. Independent estimates indicate the funds generated from the TSplost will create a half of million jobs. These jobs will help boost the construction industry in Ga which suffers a greater than 20 percent unemployment rate. This vote is paramount to the long term economic success of the state and attracting new business to the area. A no vote will have negative repercussions for years to come. Point of fact, the roads you drive today are in dire need of repair and our vital infrastructure is counting on you the voters. Is it the best option, no but it is the only one we have available.
?
July 19th, 2012
12:34 pm
?
Late To The Party
July 19th, 2012
12:35 pm
I like the idea about it being called Transportation Fair Tax! That way everybody is paying, from the illegals buying a pair of pants, to the welfare mamas buying stuff for their chilluns! Sounds like the fairest way to me!!!
OH Hail NO!
July 19th, 2012
12:35 pm
Charles there is FEDERAL funding for roads…
A simple penny, my backside
July 19th, 2012
12:36 pm
All these penny SPLOSTS, year after year, add up to me going broke.
THINK PEOPLE
July 19th, 2012
12:36 pm
“The government is lying! The government can and will lie!”
Well guess what? In case you haven’t noticed, the government is the one in charge of all our roads. Gas tax hasn’t been raised in decades. You don’t want taxes? You don’t want tolls? All you people complaining over and over again about what the government hasn’t been doing… There’s NO MONEY. They’re the ones in charge. You don’t enable them to do ANYTHING, fine: no progress for Atlanta.
Also, the fact that we as a region can approve something like this will attract more federal dollars. The feds will see that we are serious about moving forward rather than always quibbling about what not to do. No such thing as a free meal guys, money has to come from somewhere.
JASon
July 19th, 2012
12:37 pm
“There are no easy answers, no secret pots of money”
The easy answer, you flipping moron, is to close the toll like was stipulated. Why don’t you stop lying to and stealing from the people?
Charles is voting yes
July 19th, 2012
12:38 pm
Regarding federal funds, the are allocated for new construction and require matching by the state.moreover Georgia law requires the state to all the funds before releasing a project. Where is that money going to come from in an era of declining fuel tax revenue. Cars are only going to get more efficient thus a death spiral of funding is created.
Regarding maintenance , federal funds are rarely used for ga maintenance activities.
cgatlanta
July 19th, 2012
12:38 pm
I’m betting that VOTE YES!! doesn’t have many friends. I don’t think you could be much more unlikeable.
Grasshopper
July 19th, 2012
12:38 pm
Charles you do realize that money collected from this tax is money that will not be spent on other things don’t you? Take $8,000,000,000 out of the private economy and give it government which has zero incentive to use it wisely and you will hurt job growth, not help it.
Government wastes money! Always has and always will!
No! More! Sales! Tax! Increases! Ever!
million jobs, my backside
July 19th, 2012
12:39 pm
What jobs? I don’t foresee myself running an earth mover, building a highway. The guys that do already have jobs.
Ed Dennis
July 19th, 2012
12:39 pm
The Georgia Toll Authority is a totally useless entity. Time and Time again they havtione built roads can collected tolls with the promise that the toll would be stopped when the construction cost + interest was recovered. They have never done this. They collected tolls on the Saint Simons Island connector for 8 years beyond the pay off date. I believe they are at least 5 years beyond payoff on the GA 400 project. Now they are involving themselves in the FEDERAL INTERSTATE HIGHWAY SYSTEM by imposing tolls on these roads. I think the only way to address this issue is to do away with the Toll Authority. I believe this can only be accomplished by a vote of the citizens of Georgia as I believe the citizens voted to create this abomination. Every good idea becomes a bad idea when it becomes a bureaucracy. It is time to dismantle this mistake. As for the T SPLOST, why would you ever create a new state agency in Georgia. This amendment, if passed will create a new agency in every corner of the state and employ hundreds of new bureaucrats to collect taxes, study projects, let bids, supervise projects and would do all this without reducing the size of the Georgia DOT one bit. Only a fool would vote yes on T SPLOST!
OH Hail NO!
July 19th, 2012
12:39 pm
THINK PEOPLE and why is there no money? hmmm I guess its not to pad the politicians pockets? or not to be used as for what it was to be used for? then to cry and say we dont have any money… tax the crap out of the public again….. again OH HAIL NO
baby
July 19th, 2012
12:40 pm
Too little, too late. Should have mentioned this about 3 months ago. Reeks of desperation