O'SCANLON & CASAGRANDE BACK LAWSUIT ON TAXPAYER-FUNDED TOLL ROAD REPORT

By Kristin Antonello | September 28th, 2007 - 3:39pm
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Release Date: 
Sep 28 2007

O’SCANLON AND CASAGRANDE BACK LAWSUIT ON TAXPAYER-FUNDED TOLL ROAD REPORT

CALL FOR RELEASE OF REPORT DETAILINGIMPACTS OF PROPOSED TOLL ROAD ASSET SALE

Red Bank, NJ- Twelfth District Assembly candidates Declan O’Scanlon and Caroline Casagrande today voiced their support for a lawsuit filed by running-mate Assemblywoman Jennifer Beck seeking the release of an $887,000 taxpayer-funded consulting report on the proposed sale of New Jersey’s toll roads and called on the Corzine administration to make the findings public.

“As Election Day gets closer Governor Corzine is fighting harder than ever to keep information about his asset monetization proposal secret,” said O’Scanlon. “The data that was collected under this taxpayer funded contract belongs to the taxpayers and should be made public now.”

The lawsuit centers on an $887,000 New Jersey Department of Treasury contract with consultant Steer, Davies and Gleave to study the impact of a proposed sale or lease of New Jersey’s toll roads. It appears the report contains data about possible toll hikes and the impact on traffic flow onto local roads.

Attempts to obtain the data from this report through an Open Public Records Act (OPRA) request were denied by the Corzine administration, so Beck joined with Assemblyman Sean Kean to file a lawsuit in New Jersey Superior Court Thursday afternoon seeking release of the document.

The lawsuit specifically seeks information, data, and other technical projections about possible toll hikes and the impact of toll hikes on local road traffic.

“We are well aware of the devastating impacts that this toll road asset sale may have on our state budget, the tolls motorists pay, and the maintenance of our highways,” said Casagrande. “The fact that the administration wants to keep this report secret only confirms our belief that when all the details are made public this plan will be a loser for the taxpayers.”

O’Scanlon and Casagrande said they will not support a sale of toll road assets and added that such a plan will result in higher tolls, more traffic on local roads and potential budget problems in the future.

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Contact Info: 

Kristin Antonello

(732) 889-4694

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