Audit: Pa. Turnpike’s future financial viability requires immediate legislative action

Without some legislative action and innovative solutions, the Pennsylvania Turnpike could be on its way to becoming the “nicest roadway in the nation that no one ever uses,” said state Auditor General Timothy DeFoor.

The turnpike commission has accumulated $13.2 billion in debt — or $1.5 billion more than the debt owed by the entire state government — as a result of having to borrow money to comply with a 2007 transportation law. That law mandated the commission to contribute $450 million a year help fund the commonwealth’s other transportation funding needs through this year when that annual contribution dropped to $50 million for the next 35 years.

An audit of the turnpike commission that DeFoor released on Wednesday concluded the commission alone can’t rectify its financial situation.

The auditor general said the commission’s consultants’ revenue projections — which a turnpike official describes as conservative and realistic — assume conditions stay consistent and counts on yearly toll increases through 2050 for the turnpike to remain solvent. But DeFoor said it leaves “no margin for a major calamity” such as another pandemic, a major road closure, economic downturn or fuel price surges that could reduce turnpike usage.

“The turnpike commission did not get into the situation itself and the legislature and the executive branch need to work together now to ensure the turnpike is financially viable for the future,” DeFoor said.

The audit of the turnpike commission, which is mandated by law to be conducted every four years, covers the period from June 1, 2018, through June 13 of this year. It identified three findings and 23 recommendations for improvement, many of which were similar to the findings of an audit released in 2019.

One finding speaks to the commission’s toll raising plan that DeFoor said risks the potential of the commission pricing “itself out of the market to keep up with its bills.” He encouraged the General Assembly to consider removing or reducing the requirement that the commission pay $50 million annually to help pay for the state’s other transportation funding needs.

Another finding addresses what auditors found to be outdated anti-discrimination language in contracts with vendors for amenities at service plazas, which the commission argues is not the case. However, turnpike officials did agree to take under advisement a suggestion to require vendors to post signage at service places that display a customer complaint number and to share the complaints with the commission to review and follow-up if necessary.

A third finding draws attention to the $104 million in uncollected tolls in fiscal years 2020 and 2021 and the need to find new ways to address this problem.

“Unpaid tolls, or leakage, is a significant problem for the turnpike especially given the financial challenges it faces,” DeFoor said. “The situation got worse largely due the toll by plate method piloted in 2016 and expanded during the pandemic.”

He attributed a quarter of the unpaid tolls to PennDOT having the wrong address or no address for the vehicle owner.

“We must find a way to make sure the bills are getting to where they need to go,” DeFoor said.

His auditors identified ways to improve collections including calling for more consistent state police enforcement of ticketing vehicles if a license plate is obstructed or unreadable and steeper penalties for motorists who intentionally obscure their license plate.

Among their other suggestions, working with PennDOT to develop a plan to replace unreadable or weathered license plates, establishing cooperative agreements with other states to ensure out-of-state drivers pay their unpaid tolls, and lowering the threshold for vehicle registration suspension for unpaid tolls. Current law allows that to occur if a motorist has at least six unpaid toll invoices or at least $500 or more in unpaid tolls.

The audit found that as of April 30,2022, more than 24,000 motorists were eligible for, at risk of, or had their registration suspended for a total amount of unpaid tolls and fees of more than $38.6 million. About $4 million of that figure has been paid back through a payment plan or was on appeal.

DeFoor said one solution alone is not going to fix the fiscal woes that the turnpike faces.

“It is going to take a step by step approach with everybody working together in a nonpartisan effort,” DeFoor said. “Now’s the time to make real headway to ensure the turnpike will continue to provide invaluable service to all who travel through and from Pennsylvania.”