JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A discussion of tolling authority by Jacksonville Transportation Authority interim CEO Cleveland Ferguson has prompted pushback from drivers and Mayor Donna Deegan, though JTA says it is not proposing tolls.
At a Friday meeting of the City Council’s Financial Oversight and Audit Select Committee, Ferguson said JTA has tolling authority and described a hypothetical project involving a private partner and an existing JTA asset, such as the Skyway.
“You can imagine working with a private partner on a toll role, let’s call it the Skyway,” Ferguson said, referring to a potential way to generate revenue.
In a statement on its website, JTA said Ferguson was not proposing or advocating for the reinstatement of bridge tolls. The authority said he mentioned tolling in the historical context of JTA’s former role as an expressway authority.
“It hasn’t been used in a long, long time,” Ferguson said. He described past opportunities to retain roads and charge tolls, including the possibility of an HOV lane.
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Ferguson was speaking before Jacksonville’s Financial Audit and Oversight Select Committee in the first of five scheduled meetings. The meetings come just weeks after nearly 200 employees were laid off, and JTA revealed a nearly $ 40 million budget shortfall.
The topic is sensitive for many Jacksonville residents. Tolls helped pay for bridge construction beginning in the 1950s, including the Matthews, Fuller Warren, Hart and Dames Point bridges. Toll collection continued after the construction of JTB, frustrating some taxpayers. Abolishing tolls became a campaign issue in 1987, and voters later replaced them with a half-cent sales tax.
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“I feel like everything is already high enough,” Jacksonville driver Regina Wright said. “We need no more taxes and no more tolls.”
Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan is also weighing in on the toll talk, saying in a statement over the weekend that she would oppose any effort to bring tolls back.
“Jacksonville has been down this road before, and the people have already spoken loud and clear,” Deegan said. “There are many other solutions that should be considered to alleviate the current financial crisis. Tolls is not one of them.”
Jacksonville driver Margarita Diaz-Hernandez also opposed the idea, saying tolls can be difficult to afford.
JTA has statutory authority to collect tolls, but the agency says it has no active proposal or recommendation to reinstate them.
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