As travelers on E-470 prepare for a fare hike Jan. 1, 9News has found that executives from the highway regularly spend toll collections on luxurious hotels, massages and bonuses for employees or board members.
Financial records of the E-470 Public Highway Authority show that the agency, a political subdivision of the state of Colorado, has regularly spent revenue on perks not typically available to public employees, including:
• $13,000 on a licensed massage therapist who visited offices over a three-year period.
• $59,370 on bonuses for nearly 50 employees.
• More than $25,000 on travel to numerous domestic and international cities including San Diego, Boston, Miami, Tampa, Fla., and Berlin.
Reimbursement records show that during a trip to San Diego, board member Jim Benson charged E-470 a $100 baggage fee so he could take his golf clubs along.
E-470 executive director John McCuskey defended the spending as necessary for the agency because it competes with private businesses for employees.
“We are an enterprise. We have to operate like a business. We don’t have any recourse to our member jurisdictions,” McCuskey said.
But a representative of a government watchdog group said some of the perks cross the line.
“That’s not a good use of public resources,” said Elena Nunez of Common Cause Colorado. “To have that agency pay for them to take their golf clubs along, I question whether or not that’s a good use of the public’s resources.”
On Nov. 10, E-470 directors voted to raise tolls on drivers with transponder devices by a dime at most toll plazas, to $2.25 to $2.50 depending upon the plaza. At the same time, the board voted to revamp the way the agency collects overdue tolls to be more fair to drivers.
McCuskey defended the expenses, saying travel to conferences is necessary to network with others in the tolling industry.
“There’s nothing like the face-to-face exchange of information. The exchange of data, the opportunity to talk, to build networks, to meet new colleagues. It’s second to none in terms of benefit to the authority,” McCuskey said.
McCuskey cited the new sticker tags for E-470 as an example of technology that came out of International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association conferences. McCuskey said the sticker tags will save the agency money in the long run.
But the perks don’t sit well with drivers, like Jerry Keel, who feel they’ve been unfairly billed by E-470.
Keel said he won’t use the highway again after getting hit with a $4,000 collection notice.
“I’m in the wrong job. I want that job,” Keel said when told about E-470 employee and director perks.
The E-470 board voted unanimously earlier this year to object to a proposed review by the state auditor.
According to the meeting minutes, board members objected to the audit because they felt there was already enough oversight of E-470 operations and that the cost of the audit would have been an “unfunded mandate.”
In those notes, one board member remarked that the cost of such an audit “would be unwarranted especially in the present economic times.”
See more on the perks available to E-470 executives and directors today at 9 p.m. on Channel 20 and after the NFL game on 9News.
