More Details on the Heinous Hampton Roads Toll Plan

I've noted before how Hampton Roads is being singled out from the rest of Virginia in terms of new taxes. Of course, in typical Virginia GOP fashion, the reach into residents' pockets isn't called a "tax" but rather "tolls." No matter how one describes it, Hampton Roads residents will be out the money. Even as other areas of the Commonwealth see huge highway expenditures made without similar tolls. As the Virginian Pilot notes, the deal stinks and Bob "Governor Ultrasound" McDonnell is screwing local residents while running up a bill that will be left for future governors to pay. It's not exactly a pretty picture of leadership, but the norm in today's Virginia GOP. Here are some highlights:

[A]s Del. John Cosgrove, a Chesapeake Republican recently put it, the state's relying on "borrowed money."

The deal also ensures Hampton Roads drivers pay tolls to cross the Elizabeth River - $1.84 one way for cars during rush hour and $7.36 for trucks; $1.59 for cars in off-hours and $4.77 for trucks - for the next four years, perhaps more, until the new Midtown tube is finally completed.

Starting in 2017, when the Midtown is set for completion, tolls on both tunnels can be increased by 3.5 percent per year - or more - until 2070.

Drivers using Interstate 264 through the Downtown Tunnel will pay tolls for the duration of the contract without ever seeing a new lane of capacity.

ERC will be allowed up to a 13.5 percent annual return on equity, at a time when few investments pay anything close to that.

McDonnell often justifies this plan by declaring that there are "no free lunches" when it comes to transportation. But it's doubtful that any one expected lunch to be this expensive.

Never mind the nearly $1,000 annual tax hike that McDonnell's Elizabeth River Crossings deal imposes on thousands of working men and women. Most, if not all, settled in Hampton Roads under the assumption that their government wouldn't tax them disproportionately for roads that benefit the entire state's economy. Most, if not all, never thought they'd be ordered to pay an inordinate fee to sit on a daily basis in the same traffic they're sitting in now.

The $4 billion that McDonnell mentions comes mostly in the form of "borrowed money" that will be repaid from heaven knows what sources.

It allows the governor to reap the political reward that comes with racking up projects on the commonwealth's credit card; the bill, meanwhile, is a problem for Virginia's taxpayers and a future governor. McDonnell will be long gone by the time it comes due.

Yep, the deal sucks for those of us in Hampton Roads and benefits the private company disproportionately. And worse yet, this is the type of leadership Governor Ultrasound wants to take to Washington. That's scary.