Sources of Revenue:

Other Fund Turnpike Toll Revenues

Legislation creates:

Neither Program nor Fund

Fiscal Note Summary

Effect this measure will have on costs and revenues of state government.

The West Virginia Turnpike is operated and maintained by the Parkways Authority with Turnpike toll revenues paid by the users of the highway. Passage of this bill would result in a reduction of toll revenue. The amount of this reduction would have to be determined by traffic and revenue studies as defined in this fiscal note.

Fiscal Note Detail

Effect of Proposal	Fiscal Year
Effect of Proposal	2008 Increase/Decrease (use"-")	2009 Increase/Decrease (use"-")	Fiscal Year (Upon Full Implementation)
1. Estmated Total Cost	0	0	0
Personal Services	0	0	0
Current Expenses	0	0	0
Repairs and Alterations	0	0	0
Assets	0	0	0
Other	0	0	0
2. Estimated Total Revenues	0	0	0

Explanation of above estimates (including long-range effect):

The purpose of this bill is to exempt vehicles in funeral processions from the payment of tolls on toll roads or bridges. Please find below the effects this measure will have on the West Virginia Parkways Authority.

Memorandum

The purpose of this bill is to exempt vehicles in funeral processions from the payment of tolls on the West Virginia Turnpike. The following information is relevant to the consideration of the above referenced bill: A. The West Virginia Parkways Authority has a long-standing policy to provide non-stop arrangements for funeral processions requiring passage through any of our four toll plazas on the Turnpike. Once the date, time and route of the funeral procession is established, the Funeral Home Director may contact the Director of Toll, Steve Maynard, at (304) 256-6690 or at smaynard@wvturnpike.com. Arrangements will then be made with the toll plazas to allow the funeral procession to proceed through a specially designated lane without stopping. A Parkways employee will count the number of vehicles in the procession passing through the lane and an invoice is mailed to the funeral home. This process has proved very successful and provides for no disruptions to the funeral procession. Also, if no prior phone call is made, the funeral director can provide the toll collector with a business card, the vehicles in the procession will be counted and pass through with no disruption, and an invoice will be mailed at a later time. The Parkways has always attempted to work with the Funeral Home Directors to ensure that the dignity and respect accorded to the procession is maintained and passage through the toll plazas is uninterrupted. In 2005, the General Manager provided a reminder about this process to Funeral Home Directors Association and asked them to put this information in their newsletter, e-mail or other forms of communication with funeral home directors: B. Allowing free tolls for any specific purpose establishes a precedent for any number of other special interest groups. The provisions of the Trust Indenture were established to protect the bondholders and ensure the proper functioning of the Turnpike. These provisions must be met before implementing any toll reductions. C. In accordance with the existing Trust Agreement between the bondholders and the West Virginia Parkways Authority, the schedule of Turnpike tolls currently in effect for the Turnpike shall not be reduced unless there has been filed with the Trustee for at least thirty days prior to the effective date of the reduction: (1) A certificate of the Traffic Engineers, giving effect to the completion of any Turnpike facility or improvement which has been commenced or which has been financed through the sale of Turnpike bonds and setting forth estimates of Turnpike tolls for the then current and next succeeding five fiscal years, on the basis that no additional traffic on the Turnpike will result from the reduction in tolls; (2) A certificate of the Consulting Engineers setting forth for each of the fiscal years and on the assumption specified in the certificate of the Traffic Engineers being delivered pursuant to (1) above, separate estimates of the operating expenses and the amount necessary to provide for a reserve for Renewal and Replacement Costs of the Turnpike; and (3) Certificate of an Authorized Officer of the Authority stating that: (i) the Authority is not in default in the performance of observance of any of the covenants, conditions, agreement of provisions with respect to the Turnpike bonds contained in the Trust Indenture, (ii) the amount on deposit in the Reserve Account securing the Turnpike bonds is at least equal to the Reserve Account Requirement for the Turnpike bonds, (iii) the Net Subsystem Revenues of the Turnpike bonds were not less than 125% of the debt service on the Turnpike bonds, and (iv) based upon the certificates then being delivered pursuant to (1) and (2) above the difference in the current and each of the next five fiscal years between Turnpike tolls and the Operating Expenses of the Turnpike will be at least 100% of the debt service for the Turnpike bonds, plus the amount necessary to provide for a reserve for Renewal and Replacement Costs. D. Even if the vehicles were going to the funeral, it would be impossible to exempt them on the return trip since the vehicles are traveling at different times and not staying together. E. It is not known to what degree there would be a loss of revenues to the Authority without the studies as described above.

Person submitting Fiscal Note: Gregory C. Barr, General Manager
Email Address: gbarr@wvturnpike.com