Fifteen billion dollars later, Massachusetts residents still can't escape the costs of the Big Dig which arrive from all directions. From the Boston Globe: "State tries to rescue Pike from huge debt." Why don't you try to rescue me from more taxes?
The Patrick administration is engineering a large-scale financial rescue of the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority that would allow the cash-strapped agency to refinance $800 million in debt to avoid potentially ruinous repayment terms.Of course. We in Western Massachusetts love Boston's Big Dig and all the time it saves on our mutual commutes.
The House, acting swiftly at the administration's request, gave initial approval yesterday to legislation that would allow the Turnpike Authority to use the state's higher credit rating to refinance its debt to lower its interest costs. The move means taxpayers would be responsible for the turnpike's debt if the agency defaults. [snip]
The turnpike has said it may have trouble making higher payments that could come due in January under the terms of complex loans that were used to help pay for the Big Dig. While they have not sketched a plan to fix the agency's debt problem, turnpike officials have indicated that one of the primary options for fixing its finances is to increase tolls.
3 comments:
Whatever happened to the super-fast commuter rail we were going to build from Western Mass to Boston? ( you know, the one on the median with a $700K study? )
More taxes down a rathole.
Apparently your representatives think the fastest way to get out of a hole is to keep digging.
Blair
I think they mean "taxpayers will be on the hook *WHEN* the Transit Authority" defaults. Gotta keep paying those transit workers, you know.
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