If you go out to dinner, at the end of the evening you receive your bill and that is the cost of the dinner. Whether you pay for it with cash or check, gift card or credit card, the cost is still the same.

If you do infrastructure, say build a bridge or repair a road, in the end the cost is what it cost. If you pay for it with taxes (a current tax), take it from the "rainy day fund," (taxes you already paid in the past) or issue bonds (taxes you will pay in the future) or institute tolls, the cost of the project is the same. There is no savings in the cost with taxes, the rainy-day fund or bonding. However, there is a 25%-40% savings with tolls because part of the cost is borne by people other than Connecticut residents.

Can someone explain to me why you would not consider tolls as part of your funding?

David Atwater

Mystic