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For Immediate Release: July 10, 2012Contact: (518) 458-9696

Toll Hike Leaves New York Anything but “Open for Business”Twenty business groups have joined together to oppose the New York State Thruway

Authority’s proposed 45% toll increase on commercial vehicles. The groups represent over13,000 companies of all sizes, ranging from farms and grocery stores, to fuel suppliers, lumbermills and manufacturers, who expect to see a significant negative impact on their business as aresult of the proposed toll increase.

This toll increase is expected to have a drastic impact on agriculture and the foodsupply.

“Many farmers will be paying hundreds if not thousands of dollars more per year just

to get their food to market if these toll hikes are approved,” said Dean Norton, New York FarmBureau President. “Hard working farm families cannot easily absorb those rising transportationcosts, and neither can New York families who will see their grocery bills rise because of it.”

“The Thruway Authority appears to have no regard for the impact their actions willhave on all consumers who rely on the goods delivered by truck,” said Brian Sampson,Executive Director of Unshackle Upstate. “Every time a truck toll is raised, it increases thecost to the consumer. Everything you use, consume or touch will cost more. This does not justhurt the trucking industry. It hurts every manufacturing business and every farmer. As a result,this new increased tax will be absorbed by every taxpayer in New York."

Nearly 90% of New York’s communities rely exclusively on trucks to deliver their

goods. Transportation costs factor into the price of any commodity.

“Trucks are used in nearly every part of the manufacturing process,” said RandyWolken, President of MACNY- The Manufacturers Association and The ManufacturersAlliance of New York . “Raw materials are transported by truck, so the cost of manufacturingwill increase as the tolls on trucks increase. Consumers won’t just see their ‘shipping andhandling’ charges increase, they’ll see the cost of every product increase.”

The Thruway Authority has proposed a 45% toll increase on commercial vehicles with3 axles or more, to support their 2012-15 capitol plan, which does not include the planned $5billion replacement of the Tappan Zee Bridge, spanning the Hudson River between Rocklandand Westchester counties. The Thruway Authority was unable to complete the projects in their

budget with the revenue from toll hikes for their 2005-2011 capital program, leaving manyconcerned about the mismanagement of toll revenue.

The Thruway Authority’s questionable financial decisions are well-documented. In2008, the New York State Comptroller found the authority’s planned (and subsequentlyimplemented) toll increases were not justified and that the authority needed to undertake a

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review to control spending and find alternative revenue options. Additionally, it found that the authority’s capitalplanning process allowed practices that did not sufficiently consider the need for accountability and transparency.

The Thruway Authority raised the toll regardless and took no action on the comptroller’s recommendations.

“The Thruway Authority has mismanaged their finances for years and to make up for it, they’re askingaverage consumers to foot the bill through increased transportation costs,” said Kendra Adams, President of theNew York State Motor Truck Association. “They are showing total disregard for what it will do to consumers, howit will impact communities along alternate routes and what it will do the economy of New York. And make nomistake, every New Yorker will foot the bill.”

“There is not an industry in this state that does not rely heavily on trucks to keep their business running day-to-day,” said Mike Durant, State Director of the New York Chapter of the National Federation of IndependentBusiness. “At a time when New York is supposed to be ‘open for business,’ this truck toll increase practicallyinvites businesses to leave New York.”

“Export markets have kept the forest products industry alive in recent years,” said Eric Carlson, Presidentand CEO of the Empire State Forest Products Association. “With high fuel costs, this toll increase is the proverbialstraw that will break the back of the industry in New York State, sending our jobs to other states.”

Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who has declared New York “open for business,” while discussing the use of the PortAuthority of New York and New Jersey’s toll increases to fund the building of the Ground Zero site in Manhattanstated, “The taxpayer, the toll payer, is not an endless, bottomless well for government to dip into to cure theirincompetence.”

The organizations that plan to go to Gov. Cuomo, legislators and the Thruway Authority with the concernsof their members, include:

American Trucking AssociationsCouncil of IndustryEmpire State Forest Products AssociationEmpire State Petroleum AssociationEmpire State Towing and Recovery AssociationFood Industry Alliance of New York Manufacturers Alliance of New York Manufacturers AssociationNational Federation of Independent BusinessNational Private Truck CouncilNew York Association of Convenience StoresNew York Farm BureauNew York State Motor Truck AssociationNew York State Movers and Warehouseman's AssociationNortheast Ag & Feed AllianceNortheast Dairy Foods Association, Inc.Northeastern Retail Lumber AssociationRetail Council of New York StateRochester Transportation CouncilUnshackle Upstate

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