SB655: relative to removal of exit ramp tolls on the Everett turnpike in Merrimack.

SB 655-FN-LOCAL - AS INTRODUCED

2020 SESSION

20-3041

06/05

SENATE BILL 655-FN-LOCAL

AN ACT relative to removal of exit ramp tolls on the Everett turnpike in Merrimack.

SPONSORS: Sen. Chandley, Dist 11; Sen. Levesque, Dist 12; Rep. Rung, Hills. 21; Rep. W. Thomas, Hills. 21; Rep. Murphy, Hills. 21

COMMITTEE: Transportation

ANALYSIS

This bill eliminates certain tolls on the F.E. Everett Turnpike in Merrimack.

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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.

Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]

Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

20-3041

06/05

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twenty

AN ACT relative to removal of exit ramp tolls on the Everett turnpike in Merrimack.

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

1 Department of Transportation; Merrimack Tolls Eliminated. Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, the commissioner of the department of transportation shall eliminate the northbound and southbound ramp tolls for exits 10 and 11 on the F. E. Everett turnpike in the town of Merrimack.

2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.

LBAO

20-3041

1/3/20

SB 655-FN-LOCAL- FISCAL NOTE

AS INTRODUCED

AN ACT relative to removal of exit ramp tolls on the Everett turnpike in Merrimack.

FISCAL IMPACT: [ X ] State [ ] County [ ] Local [ ] None

Estimated Increase / (Decrease)

STATE:

FY 2020

FY 2021

FY 2022

FY 2023

Appropriation

$0

$0

$0

$0

Revenue

$0

$1,286,353

$1,297,158

$1,308,703

Expenditures

$0

Indeterminable

Indeterminable Decrease

Indeterminable Decrease

Funding Source:

[ ] General [ ] Education [ ] Highway [ X ] Other - Turnpike Fund

METHODOLOGY:

This bill eliminates the northbound and southbound ramp tolls for exits 10 and 11 on the F. E. Everett Turnpike in Merrimack. On November 25, 2019, Governor and Council authorized the Department of Transportation to decrease the rate of the tolls at exit 11 to $0.00 for all vehicles, eliminating revenue and operation/maintenance costs associated with the ramp plaza, and therefore this fiscal note illustrates the estimated costs of the removal of the exit 10 tolls only, with an assumed effective date of July 1, 2020 (FY 2021).

The Department of Transportation has provided the following information relative to annual transactions, gross toll revenue, and toll operations/maintenance costs for the Merrimack exit 10 plaza:

Actual

Projected

FY 2019

FY 2020

FY 2021

FY 2022

FY 2023

Transactions1

2,675,582

2,681,201

2,702,918

2,727,515

2,752,608

Gross Toll Revenue1

$1,278,817

$1,277,411

$1,286,353

$1,297,158

$1,308,703

Toll Operations/Maintenance Costs2

($545,286)

($556,191)

($567,315)

($578,661)

($590,235)

1 Traffic and revenue is assumed to grow at an average of less than 1% per year based upon the Stantec Traffic and Revenue study (October 23, 2019).

2 Includes personnel costs, utility costs, and other facility operating/maintenance costs, with a 2% annual inflation adjustment.

The above table does not include debt service on the outstanding bonds related to the construction costs of exit 10 improvements, toll collection system maintenance, or E-ZPass back office system expenditures. Also not factored in are toll plaza removal costs, if it is determined they should be eliminated, which is estimated at $500,000, or potential costs related to staff layoffs should any of the nine (9) full-time or five (5) part-time employees working at exit 10 cannot be relocated. While costs associated with toll plaza removal or layoffs are assumed would be incurred in FY 2021, the total net impact on expenditures of this bill is indeterminable at this time.

AGENCIES CONTACTED:

Department of Transportation