Reston Spring

Reston Spring
Reston Spring

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Airports authority prepares for toll-setting process, Fairfax Times, April 18, 2012

Toll rates expected to rise to $4.50 next year

When the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority Board of Directors begins its toll-setting process for 2013 later this year, the agency will likely set rates for the next few years.
The Board’s Finance Committee discussed the policy that will govern the upcoming toll-setting process in a Wednesday meeting.
Setting tolls a year at a time would give the board more flexibility to adjust to funding situations that are currently unknown, said Andy Rountree, MWAA’s chief financial officer.
The airports authority is using toll revenues to finance a large chunk of the new rail line to Washington Dulles International Airport. With the first phase of the new Silver Line still under construction and the second phase still facing some funding unknowns, “there are a lot of uncertainties as this project moves forward,” Rountree said.
On the other hand, the investors who will be purchasing bonds backed by the tolls might be more amenable to a three-year tolling plan, Rountree said.
“There are a lot of positives that come from setting tolls for a period of time,” he said.
Some board members highlighted a different positive from setting rates three years at a time — reducing how often they have to undergo what could be a politically charged process. . . .
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