Merrimack Revolts against Tolls

[lildog]

http://www.boston.com/news/local/new_hampshire/articles/2007/08/27/penny_protest_under_way_at_nh_tolls/

Looks like Merrimack's penny protest is causing backups.

If nothing else this protest is causing discussion of how unfair tolls are which is a good thing in my opinion.

[Dave Ridley]

ugg i forgot about this i am so sorry
i meant to be there  with a sign or something

[J’raxis 270145]

Hah, is this what caused the huge traffic jam south of Londonderry on I-93 this morning?

[KBCraig]

http://www.unionleader.com/article.aspx?headline=Toll+revolt+earns+tickets%2c+call+from+the+governor&articleId=318bc28d-401e-43b0-a924-2ca25a14ad42

Toll revolt earns tickets, call from the governor

By JIM KOZUBEK
New Hampshire Union Leader Correspondent

Merrimack – A "pennies-only" protest against the Everett Highway tolls that have long ired some local residents produced 10- to 15-minute delays at midday yesterday.

State police said they cited at least two drivers for traveling below the 45-mile-an-hour minimum speed limit, and another driver was cited for a non-emergency stop. One of those ticketed was town council Chairman David McCray.

"I do think it was politically motivated, yes, do I," McCray said. "I think they were given the word from the top, I believe that."

But he said the toll revolt got the attention the town was looking for. Gov. John Lynch called town hall at 2 p.m., asking for a meeting on Sept. 21 to discuss how to avoid a town-threatened lawsuit over unfair taxation.


A Merrimack resident waves a flag at a local Everett Turnpike tollbooth to pay the toll in pennies as part of Toll Revolt Day in the town.

Merrimack residents say they pay an unfairly high percentage of tolls, and studies have shown rates as high as 42 cents a mile, compared to the average of 3 cents a mile on the turnpike system overall.

Yesterday's protest officially kicked off at noon when an auto parade headed to the tolls from the Abbie Griffin Park bandstand. Commuters were asked to throw pennies on their way to work, using exact change and following the rules of the turnpike system as usual.

Some commuters began dropping pennies into the toll baskets in the early morning. They found that the state Department of Transportation had adjusted the coin-counting system to turn red lights to green when the first pennies hit a basket.

"It was not adversarial," the DOT's Bill Boynton said. "The drivers have been polite with the toll attendants, I was told the attendants actually liked the break, which helped to kill the monotony."

McCray said residents have to pay tolls simply to get around town, a burden the town says is being ignored by lawmakers.

"We are pretending we're running errands in our own town," McCray said. "The purpose is to show that people can never leave town and pay $1.50 to drive around to do their errands."

Traffic delays did not begin until noon, when a motorcade of 142 vehicles proceeded through the tolls on the F.E. Everett Turnpike, compounding a midday rush. Traffic backed up as the penny-pitching rebels honked their horns, trickled caches of copper pennies into the hands of toll attendants, and waved Revolutionary War-style flags in protest.

Merrimack residents and commuters say they pay $3.5 million a year in tolls or five percent of the turnpike revenue at Exits 10, 11 and 12 each year, but are just 2 percent of the population.

Drivers in the motorcade yesterday said the 50 and 75 cent tolls add up to $50 or to $100 a month.

Jeanine Notter, a freelance writer, said she has five drivers in her family and after transponder fees, the family is paying $90 a month in tolls.

"Why not just have a gas tax?" she said. "Then everyone would pay their fair share, and we wouldn't have to pay the salaries and expenses to run the toll system."

Richard Guignard, a long-time resident, agreed. He said the town is gradually being fleeced out of a significant amount of money, while Exit 5 in Manchester would never have a tollbooth because the city has more political power.

"It's politics," he said. "There is not going to be a toll there, and our attitude is that we are being taxed unfairly. Why are we being penalized?"

McCray said residents took up a collection and produced $120 within minutes for him to pay his $57.60 ticket for "failure to drive the minimum speed" of 45 mph.

"I am not sure if I am going to fight it," he said. "I think I am just going to pay it in pennies."

[KBCraig]

I highlighted a sentence above for a reason: if NHDOT will adjust the machines to show a green light when protesters throw pennies, then we need a well-publicized penny protest every day of the week. 

As for this:

"Why not just have a gas tax?" she said. "Then everyone would pay their fair share, and we wouldn't have to pay the salaries and expenses to run the toll system."

Ummm, NH has a gas tax. And as the UL reported last week, 62% of the gas tax is spent on projects other than roads.

Kevin

[Ruger Mason]

These Merrimack residents think they have the "right" to use this highway for free, because they live in a nearby house?  If I buy a house next to Wal-Mart, should I be able to shop there for free?

The Merrimack "toll revolt" is essentially a socialist one.  These particular residents want me and you to pay for their disproportionate use of a major highway.  They want to dismantle the toll booths in Merrimack so that they stick a bigger portion of the bill to state residents who never use it or use it rarely.  So a Manchester-Nashua commuter not only would pay higher taxes to pay for the road, but would still be stuck with the tolls!  Those who love liberty ought not support this "revolt" that uses fraudulent appeals to liberty to justify wealth redistribution.

[J’raxis 270145]

I highlighted a sentence above for a reason: if NHDOT will adjust the machines to show a green light when protesters throw pennies, then we need a well-publicized penny protest every day of the week. 

As for this:

"Why not just have a gas tax?" she said. "Then everyone would pay their fair share, and we wouldn't have to pay the salaries and expenses to run the toll system."

Ummm, NH has a gas tax. And as the UL reported last week, 62% of the gas tax is spent on projects other than roads.

Kevin

Then that's really what needs to be fixed. That 62% of misappropriated gas tax money could probably be used to eliminate the tolls.

[Ruger Mason]

The Merrimack "toll revolt" is essentially a socialist one.

Its interesting how easy it is to get smited for challenging the prevailing logic on this forum (I'm not the only one).  The toll revolt issue is similar to the "view tax" issue; being in favor of a toll revolt in the current form is de facto in favor of the status quo, except with different sets of people chosen as winners and losers:  the zero-sum game.  Surprisingly, I've not heard a single intelligent response to my objection to the revolt.  Only smites from unknown users, what the Slashdot.org blog calls, "anonymous cowards."  Don't just smite me; make your case!

[lildog]

These Merrimack residents think they have the "right" to use this highway for free, because they live in a nearby house?  If I buy a house next to Wal-Mart, should I be able to shop there for free?

You clearly don't get it.  No one in Merrimack wants to travel the roads for FREE... they want to pay proportionally the same as everyone else using that highway.  Those living in Nashua can get on and off the highway without ANY tolls.  Those North of Merrimack have 75 cent tolls in different areas but none on every single exit as Merrimack does.

For it to be the same as what you are talking about it would be the equivalent of different WalMarts, ones closer to towns A, B and C have fair prices... the one near town D has a 50 cent fee just to walk into the door.  If people from A, B or C shop at the one in town D they too would pay but they can shop close to home without any fee.

It's about EQUAL taxation, not socialized redistribution of wealth.  If you think that it's about redistribution of wealth then you just don't get it.

[lildog]

I highlighted a sentence above for a reason: if NHDOT will adjust the machines to show a green light when protesters throw pennies, then we need a well-publicized penny protest every day of the week. 

As for this:

"Why not just have a gas tax?" she said. "Then everyone would pay their fair share, and we wouldn't have to pay the salaries and expenses to run the toll system."

Ummm, NH has a gas tax. And as the UL reported last week, 62% of the gas tax is spent on projects other than roads.

Kevin

Then that's really what needs to be fixed. That 62% of misappropriated gas tax money could probably be used to eliminate the tolls.

Not to mention that around 50% of the money collect from tolls simply go toward running the toll booths themselves.  The least they can do is if they are going to tax us, tax us in the most efficient way possible to minimize the amount they need to take.  If 50% of the money collected is going toward the method of collecting it then clearly that is a big problem.

[lildog]

Hmm, isn't this a violation of the NH constitution?

[Art.] 6-a. [Use of Certain Revenues Restricted to Highways.] All revenue in excess of the necessary cost of collection and administration accruing to the state from registration fees, operators' licenses, gasoline road tolls or any other special charges or taxes with respect to the operation of motor vehicles or the sale or consumption of motor vehicle fuels shall be appropriated and used exclusively for the construction, reconstruction and maintenance of public highways within this state, including the supervision of traffic thereon and payment of the interest and principal of obligations incurred for said purposes; and no part of such revenues shall, by transfer of funds or otherwise, be diverted to any other purpose whatsoever.

[Braddogg]

What's your solution, lildog?

[lildog]

What's your solution, lildog?

For starters, make sure the state is using the money as it's own Constitution dictates that it should.

If they are collecting money from a gas tax and from tolls which the Constitution says MUST be used for highways and roads and they aren't (to the tune of 62% of the gas tax money going elsewhere) that's a problem.

I would guess if 100% of the money collected from gas tax went where it should the state would have more then enough and would be able to eliminate the inefficient tolls (remember 30 to 50 percent of the money collected from tolls goes back just to run the tolls) and maybe even lower the gas tax.

Now granted the money used elsewhere would need to also come from somewhere and I'm sure the government wouldn't choose to cut back spending (certainly not with the tax and spender Democrats we have in office now).  So they would need to raise taxes elsewhere to make up for it... but hopefully they would do so in a constitutionally correct way.  Ideally they would cut spending to make up for the difference but that's just dreaming.

[Braddogg]

Okay.  I'm going to assume you're right about the constitutional issues (because I'm no expert on the NH Constitution).  Now, the problem with a gas tax is that it does not tax use of the roads.  One of your complaints about the Merrimack toll situation was that people who use the road to get to Nashua paid zip, while people in Merrimack paid an assload -- in other words, the tax was not levied proportional to road usage.  Well, neither does a gas tax.  A gas tax falls disproportionately on those with inefficient cars.  Now, new cars have better fuel economy than older cars.  And poor people are more likely to use older cars.  So this gas tax would tax the poor (and others who drive inefficient cars) disproportionate to their road usage.  It also disproportionately taxes people who drive faster or slower than their car's most efficient speed.

[penguins4me]

I'm going to venture a guess and state that a gas tax is a heck of a lot more efficient than the current toll tax. (I also call mostly-BS on the whole 'disproportionate burden of the poor' thing, because those new fancy cars cost a heck of a lot more (hence more tax on the sale, etc.) than the $500 or $1000 cars I drove as a penniless student - I just rode my bicycle when possible to save on gas when I was a little short on cash - even during the winter season.)

My oldest car got somewhere around 13mpg. My newest car ('97) gets around 20mpg under the same circumstances. I also don't see many poor people driving around in H2s, RAV4s, large-engined pickup trucks, nor Escalades (at least they weren't poor before they bought those).

The gains in efficiency alone, coupled with re-allocating that alleged misallocated 62% of gas tax monies back where they belong, should go far in fixing the dang toll crap problem.

Not to mention it pisses off visitors and tourists. Well, certain ones, at least...