As part of a massive transportation bill, Florida lawmakers have tucked in a provision that would jack up rates on the turnpike by 25 percent starting July 1. The toll hike would also apply to the Sawgrass Expressway in Broward County.
The reason behind the hike is simple: to raise more money to widen and build additional highways.
''The bottom line is that we need to build more roads,'' said state Sen. Gwen Margolis, a Bay Harbor Islands Democrat who voted for the toll hike Thursday. ``I don't have any problem with raising tolls.''
The toll hike was proposed by Senate Majority Leader Dan Webster, a Winter Garden Republican who said tolls are a ``user fee.''
If approved, all turnpike tolls would rise by 25 percent. For example, it would raise the cost to drive the entire length of the turnpike, from Florida City to Wildwood in Central Florida, to $26.50 from the current $21.20. Drivers who take the Sawgrass Expressway from Interstate 75 in Weston to its end in Deerfield Beach would pay $2.50 instead of $2.
LIKELY TO PASS
There's a good chance that the bill could pass the entire Legislature. That's because Webster placed it in a lengthy transportation bill that includes plenty of other measures wanted by key Republican legislators in both chambers, including House Speaker Marco Rubio. The bill also includes a controversial proposal that paves the way for the state to spend $450 million to buy 61 miles of train line from CSX Railroad to be used as a new commuter rail through Orlando.
Rep. Dean Cannon, an Orlando Republican and one of the sponsors of the House version of the bill, didn't rule out that his chamber would accept the turnpike toll hike. But some Democrats question what the difference is between approving toll road hikes and hiking the cigarette tax, which some argue is also a ``user fee.''
A bid to raise the state's cigarette tax by $1 a pack by Democrats has gone nowhere this year.
''I haven't figured out the logic of raising tolls vs. a cigarette tax,'' said House Democratic leader Dan Gelber of Miami Beach.
RECURRING HIKE
The mammoth transportation bill, which was approved by a key Senate panel on Thursday, doesn't just call for toll hikes on Florida's Turnpike. It would also require all expressway authorities in the state -- including the Miami-Dade Expressway Authority -- to regularly raise tolls by the rate of the inflation at least every five years.
The Senate legislation also would require the state to shift as much as $500 million from the Lawton Chiles tobacco settlement into Florida's road-building fund. In exchange, tolls from Alligator Alley over the next 50 years would be used to pay the money back to the Chiles Endowment, which normally funds healthcare programs.
The $2 billion fund, set up with proceeds from Florida's landmark lawsuit settlement with tobacco companies, is invested now in stocks and bonds, and the interest earned is used to pay for healthcare programs.
Lawmakers have already decided to take $300 million from the endowment this year to avoid making deep cuts in some healthcare programs.
But Webster said all he wants to do is create a more secure source of money for the endowment in the future -- in the form of tolls -- while helping build roads now.
''It's in my mind nothing less than a sure thing,'' Webster said. ``It gives a much more stable income to the endowment.''
Cannon said House Republicans are evaluating Webster's idea, saying they could go along with the concept ``as long as there are adequate safeguards on the return of the investment.''
The Department of Transportation announced earlier this year that it planned to seek bids on leasing Alligator Alley to private companies. One analysis done last year said that leasing Alligator Alley -- which currently generates about $23.5 million a year in tolls -- would yield $504 million for a 50-year lease that envisions tolls going up to $3 next year and eventually to $6.75 in the next decade.
Webster said it is better to lease Alligator Alley back to the state instead of having it leased to someone from Dubai or China.
The Senate bill also has a provision that would let counties levy an additional $2 per-day surcharge on cars rented at airports if voters approve. The money would go to South Florida Tri-Rail.
