The long-running dispute over truck tolling is not over. And that could be bad news for a state budget that can no longer count on bailouts from federal pandemic aid.
This year’s budget is already counting on $10 million from the resumption of trucking tolls. But Gov. Daniel J. McKee in July said it could be months before tolling on interstate highways and some state routes resumes.
And opposition remains, despite a December federal appeals court ruling supporting resumption of the program. That’s because the court ruling required that the state remove caps designed to limit the amount of tolls that Rhode Island-based trucks would be charged.
Local trucking companies now argue their costs will increase.
Between 2018 and 2022 the state collected nearly $103 million from the tolls for road repairs. State leaders have kept those projects going since with the help of state general revenue and federal aid.
But a looming $300 million budget deficit for next fiscal year means they’ll likely have to look elsewhere or delay projects if tolling revenue comes up short.