Democratic House Speaker Crisanta Duran on Wednesday threw cold water on the notion of using the proceeds of a proposed transportation sales tax to build new toll lanes on state interstates.
In an interview with the , Shailen Bhatt, the executive director of the Colorado Department of Transportation, said that when planned expansions of Interstate 70 and Interstate 25 take place, the new lanes will need to be managed to control congestion — possibly to include the use of tolls.
And on Wednesday, Gov. John Hickenlooper sounded open to the idea, as long as voters knew exactly how their money was being used.
“Most taxpayers, when they hear about managed lanes or toll lanes they get very agitated,” Hickenlooper said during a press briefing. “But they don’t have to take the toll lane. And, in a way, the people that do are lowering the taxes on everybody else.”
But the idea landed with a thud at the state Capitol.
In a Wednesday press briefing, Duran said she would introduce an amendment to to clarify that the sales taxes generated by a proposed tax hike would not fund new tolling efforts.
“I think it’s very important that if we’re asking the people of Colorado to vote in favor of a referred measure that they know exactly what they’re getting and they want to clarify how the dollars will be spent,” Duran said.