Tolls: State should pay for financing mistakes

Re: “Stabilizing bridge tolls is within state’s reach,” (TNT, 9/5).

I read with interest Bruce Beckett’s op-ed piece on the tolling of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge. Having worked for years to gain some form of equity for the regular users of the bridge, I will clue you in on a dirty little secret that has not received adequate attention.

The state locked in high interest rates by using non-callable zero coupon bonds. Though the actual calculation is complicated, in a simple assessment, the $614 million of these bonds originally sold are forcing tollpayers to pay millions of dollars in interest over what they could be paying, had the state sold bonds that could be refinanced at the current low rates.

It is time for the state to step up and pay the additional burdens caused by its mistakes.

This story was originally published September 16, 2016 at 10:33 AM with the headline "Tolls: State should pay for financing mistakes."