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TOLL ROAD BOARDS APPROVE FY2007 BUDGETS
Budgets totaling $397.8 million focus on debt service, future construction projects;
Toll rate changes for 73, 241 Toll Roads take effect July 3
IRVINE, Calif. (June 8, 2006) -- The Boards of the San Joaquin Hills and Foothill/Eastern Transportation Corridor Agencies today unanimously approved Fiscal Year 2007 budgets totaling $397.8 million, of which 67%, or $266.7 million, will be used for debt service and related debt expenses on the Agencies’ long-term bonds.
Total combined revenue for both Agencies – from tolls, development impact fees, FasTrak account maintenance fees, toll violations penalties, interest earnings, and other income – is budgeted at $317.3 million, with approximatley 58.8% of total revenue coming from tolls. The San Joaquin Hills Agency’s budgeted revenue includes a $30 million payment from the Foothill/Eastern Agency in accordance with the financial agreement approved by both Agencies last fall. Funds from the Foothill/Eastern Agency are coming from available construction funds for the Foothill-South project, the last segment of the 241 Toll Road.
Expenditures appear to exceed budgeted revenue because interest accretion on the principal of certain bonds is recorded as a current-year, non-cash expenditure. Without accretion, the Agencies’ FY2007 budgets total $282.3 million.
TOLL RATE CHANGES
With approval of the budget, the Board of the San Joaquin Hills Agency approved 25- and 50-cent toll increases for FasTrak and cash patrons at the Catalina View Mainline Toll Plaza
starting July 3. (click here to see proposed toll rates.) The toll rate changes attempt to close the gap between the Agency’s actual and projected revenues, as forecasted in the 1997 finance plan. Incorporating the recommended toll changes are projected to result in the Agency increasing its revenue to 81.6% of 1997 projections compared to the 78% in Fiscal Year 2006.
The Foothill/Eastern Agency Board, which oversees operation the Foothill (241) and Eastern (241, 261, and 133) Toll Roads, approved a budget that includes the implementation of 25- to 50-cent toll increases for cash and FasTrak patrons at all mainline toll plazas and some ramps. These increases were scheduled but not implemented last fiscal year. (See attachment for new toll rates.) Cash customers may avoid most of the toll increases on the Foothill and Eastern Toll Roads by switching to FasTrak, the electronic toll collection system that allows patrons to pay tolls wtihout stopping at tollbooths.
The new toll rates, and the corresponding adjustment to the toll violations penalty, will be implemented at midnight on Monday, July 3, 2006. (Weekend rates, however, would be in effect on the July 4th holiday.)
OTHER BUDGET HIGHLIGHTS
Highlights of recommended FY2007 budgets for both Agencies include:
- Foothill-South: Increases are included in the Foothill/Eastern Agency’s budget for the Foothill-South project for the first phase of preliminary design. Other Foothill-South-related expenses are included to support the final environmental permitting process and for the Agency’s response to legal challenges.
- 73 Toll Road Northbound Widening: Funding for the design of an additional northbound lane between the Glenwood interchange and the MacArthur Boulevard off-ramp is budgeted at $900,000. Funding for the project was authorized by the financial agreement reached by both Agencies in November 2005. The four-mile widening, which could open as early as mid-2008, will significantly alleviate northbound congestion during the morning rush-hour traffic.
- Reserve funds: At the end of FY2007, the Agencies are expected to have approximately $463.3 million in their respective debt service reserve funds. The Foothill/Eastern Agency is anticipated to fill its required reserve funds, as outlined in the 1999 bond indenture, and end the fiscal year with approximately $35 million in surplus revenues. Surplus toll revenues may be used to fund future toll-road construction projects, operational costs, or to defease debt ahead of schedule.
- Debt service coverage: Based on the budgets, the Foothill/Eastern Agency’s debt coverage ratio is calculated at 1.62, which simplistically means that the Agency anticipates collecting $1.62 of net toll revenue for every $1 of debt service. The San Joaquin Hills Agency’s debt coverage ratio is 1.34. Both Agencies’ bond indentures require a minimum coverage ratio of 1.30.
ABOUT TCA/THE TOLL ROADS
Nearly 300,000 trips are taken on The Toll Roads every weekday, saving drivers an average of
21 minutes per trip. The Toll Roads are operated by the Foothill/Eastern and San Joaquin Hills Transportation Corridor Agencies, two joint powers authorities formed in 1986 to plan, finance, construct, and operate Orange County's 67-mile public toll road system. Fifty-one miles of the system are complete, including the San Joaquin Hills (73) Toll Road from Newport Beach to San Juan Capistrano; and the Foothill (241) and Eastern (241, 261, and 133) Toll Roads from the 91 Freeway to south Orange County.
More: www.thetollroads.com
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