HB321 is Governor Lee’s proposal to build extra vehicle lanes throughout the state, called choice lanes, with the intent of increasing the efficiency of traffic flow. HB 321 encompasses 32 pages of definitions, partial funding descriptions and supposed benefits to Tennesseans.
The largest part of this bill is purporting to use a totally new and different form of business to accomplish these goals which brings up many questions I hope can be answered satisfactory before the vote on HB321 February 28, 2023. This new construction and funding approach is called Public-Private Partnership, also known as PPP or P3. See HB 321 page 1 sect 54-1-119 Design-build and performance-based asset maintenance contracts.
What exactly is a PPP? Let’s first look at how our state government currently runs.
We the People elect those who will be public servants for US. This means we voice our needs, we determine where our dollars prioritized and spent and we look for our ELECTED officials to hire contractors to do the work to OUR satisfaction and then to pay them in FULL with our tax dollars for the work they have completed for US or with Bond funds our government is in control of.
If We the People are not satisfied with the work WE have options, and one of these options is to not RE-ELECT those who we feel have not performed their civic duties for US. If the contractors who did work for the state have grossly wronged our community, our state, by breach of contract, have legal standing. The state and the voters retain the freedom to fire the contractor and never use them again. These rights will be taken away if the Public-Private Partnership is used.
If these choice lane projects use a Public-Private Partnership model as described in HB321 section 54-1-119 of the description of “asset management maintenance projects” the parties involved include the Tennessee government as the public entity answering to We the People and a private company who specializes in designing, building, and maintaining a lane choice project, who makes money (profit) from collecting user fees from those who use the choice lanes. The PPP gets to collect the user fees as they are the ones putting up the money up front to build these choice lane roads. The choice lane land and infrastructure are owned/leased by the private company until the loan and interest is paid off decades into the future. The private company’s first priority is to itself, not We the People. The private company is in control of Tennessee’s roads infrastructures, not the Tennessee government or We the People. We will have no say about future construction, maintenance or re-financing and the private company has no accountability to us even though Tennessee is strapped with a huge loan and interest payments.
These borrowed funds have decade’s long payback periods and usually higher interest rates for these loans due to the longer term and the increase risk of these borrowed funds. It is very similar to an individual borrowing a large sum of money over decades and making loan and interest payments to these private for profit companies. So in addition to those who choose to use these new lanes and pay users fees, Tennessee taxpayers will pay more in other taxes to meet the cost of carrying the loan and interest of these projects for decades in the Tennessee annual budget. I can think of a few more expenses the Tennessee budget, i.e. taxpayers will be paying for such as higher fuel taxes for the increased highway patrol and their vehicles and vehicles maintenance and other emergency services to address accident and injury on this new choice lane. We may not be paying any new ‘gas tax’ to fund the annual budget but the money for the budget expenses has to come from one of the other tax revenues Tennessee has. Tax revenue is the only way the state government reports revenue, other than hand outs from the federal government.
What happens with land acquisition of nearby properties and farms? The increase to purchase these lands has been increased in HB321 from $75,000 to $250,000. (See page 32 Section 33) How is this huge increase going to be paid for?
Our children, grandchildren and great grandchildren will be paying for the user fees, the loan principle and loan interest and extra expenses way into their future.
Additionally, I’ve heard a lot of debate about using the word, Toll Roads. These new choice lanes will not be using a traditional manned toll booth, rather electronic devices drivers have to buy and keep in their cars so cars can be tracked and billed according to where we are driving, the day and the time we are driving on the choice lanes. Credit cards will be automatically charged for the user fees. Cameras along the stretch of roadways will monitor the traffic flow and time of day and how long the cars take to travel and the user fees will be adjusted automatically and displayed on digital signs. The price of the user fees will change and be reported on the signs throughout the day. Traveling these choice lanes during rush hour traffic will cost significantly more than non-rush hour traffic. This is how current lane choice user fees work in Florida, South Carolina, Texas and Georgia. This will be full tracking of people using these roads.
If our relations with China continues to be strained our electrical grids are at risk. The transformers used in our electrical grid all over the USA, which are currently supplied by China, are at risk. We are at risk for not being able to purchase these transforms for our electrical grid. Will not the same scenario be true of our new electronically controlled choice lanes road infrastructures if foreign companies have long term leases on Tennessee lands?
Governor Lee is appointing people who do not answer to voters. The Transportation Commissioner is also appointing 5 people to his staff. All are selected positions not elected and their salaries and benefits are paid for by the Taxpayer. It’s great that the new Transportation Commissioner has experience with Public Private Partnerships as the former founder and CEO of Infrastructure Corporation of America, but I wonder if this is the most budget conscience approach in negotiating an arm’s length transaction in negotiations with other asset management private companies? Is this in the best interest of taxpayer money?1
I do not feel We the People have all the information related to this endeavor and hope the General Assembly will be able to address my questions and concerns. This is a huge a bill with a huge budget and I am by far no expert on these matters, but I do believe having all the information available so we can have our voices heard is imperative to the future of our State. Please stop telling us we have a choice not to pay the users fees; as the cost to Tennesseans for Choice Lanes encompasses so much more than a user fee.
Will these choice lanes discriminate from commercial traffic? If not, then arises, the statistical data that most, if not all, the worst traffic “tie ups” are a result of an overturned or disabled tractor trailer. Therefore, it defeats the entire premise that these “lanes” would be a good choice on any given day.
Along with the fact that more enforcement and safety protocols will be required, at taxpayer’s expense, in the form of added patrol vehicles, officers to man them, and the added cost to maintain the fleets. There then lies the issue of jurisdiction for this. Will the individual counties be on the hook to increase the same things I referenced in the previous sentence?
Finally, there’s this big two part question. Who picks up the tab for administrative and court costs to apprehend, prosecute, and fine the scofflaws that unlawfully use the roads, speed, and cause accidents? Second, who picks up the insurance costs? The State has to insure itself from liability by permitting a third party to maintain, construct, and acquire lands to do all of this even if the private company has its own insurer. I know if I were to provide liability insurance for some third party for anything at all, it’s going to be an expensive policy. Won’t all of this cost the taxpayers of the State of Tennessee substantially more than just simply building or adding State maintained roads or “lanes” as it were?
Until we have the full picture of this project, I am asking to please vote NO on HB321 sponsored by Rep. William Lamberth.
Thank you.
- “https://tennesseelookout.com/2022/12/22/public-private-partnerships-work-their-way-into-state-government/”
