The New York Thruway Authority does not plan to use its share of the $5 billion bank settlement windfall to offset a Thruway toll increase, says the authority’s new acting commissioner who suggested there may be small hikes for motorist using the statewide road system in the future.


In The Legislative Gazette today, Roger Hannigan Gilson reports:


The $1.3 billion the Authority will receive from bank settlements, which were paid to the state by multiple financial institutions as a result of the 2008 financial crisis, will instead go to funding the completion of the new Tappan Zee Bridge and for one-time improvements in the Thruway system.

Robert Megna, who was tapped to be acting executive director of the Authority earlier this month after the resignation of Thomas Madison, said the settlement money would not go to subsidizing tolls because a one-time windfall could not be used to fund recurring expenses.

The majority of the $1.3 billion will go to completing the new Tappan Zee Bridge, Megna said, which has faced a shortfall in funding after $500 Million expected from the Clean Water Fund was yanked by the EPA after environmental groups protested.


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