DRPA under fire for economic development spending, again
By Stacy Brown | PA Independent
HARRISBURG — More than $20 million in the coffers of a regional transportation agency should be used to upgrade and improve a high-speed rail, not economic development projects.
That's the desire of Pennsylvania's Auditor General Jack Wagner, who wants Gov. Tom Corbett
to use his political clout to stop the Delaware River Port Authority, or DRPA, that serves southeastern Pennsylvania and southern New Jersey, from carrying out its plans for the funds.
"This money should not be used for a rowing course or a cancer center or any other economic development project," Wagner said. “It would be legally sound, fiscally responsible, transparent to the public, fair to New Jersey, and consistent with the core mission of the DRPA to invest the money into PATCO.”
PATCO, or the Port Authority Transit Corp., is the high-speed train, connecting south New Jersey to Philadelphia.
“I cannot think of a valid reason not to pursue such a win-win resolution — and I certainly cannot think of any reason not to at least take the time to seriously consider it,” said Wagner, a DRPA board member ex-officio.
However, DRPA has earmarked the funds for projects including:
- $6 million for a cancer center at a Camden, N.J., hospital;
- $4 million for improvements to a rowing course on the Cooper River in Pennsauken, N.J.;
- $2 million for a student dorm at Rutgers University in New Jersey;
- $4.3 million for work at a state prison in Camden, N.J.
For years, DRPA has funded such projects with bridge and toll money collected from drivers using the Benjamin Franklin, Walt Whitman, Commodore Barry and Betsy Ross bridges that connect Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
While Wagner said Corbett could convince New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, the only person with veto power in DRPA, to stop the funding for the projects, Corbett's spokesman Kevin Harley said it's too late.
Wagner, Harley said, is “grandstanding."
"The money is already spent and Wagner has been on the DRPA board since 2005 and has never done anything about” economic development spending, Harley said.
Christie could not be reached for comment.
Economic development was once a primary function of DRPA, but Wagner said it would be prudent for the agency to focus on transportation issues.
In the past, DRPA has doled out:
- $2 million to the Pennsauken, N.J.,-based Food Bank of South Jersey and other charitable organizations in several New Jersey counties;
- More than $400 million toward projects including Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, which is a soccer stadium, and the President’s House monument in Philadelphia.
Wagner said he recommends investing the money in transportation-only projects, something he's advocated for a long time.
"We have voted ‘no’ numerous times on various economic development projects both in New Jersey and in Pennsylvania," Wagner said. "It is true that the DRPA has been doing this for a long time and the simple fact is that we need to end it."
