nesbett t1_j6mvywa wrote on January 31, 2023 at 1:43 PM

At the time it was clear that the actual cost would be way higher than the estimated price. Name one large project like this that comes in on budget and on time. And at the time New Jersey's finances were a mess, yes, mostly due to Republican mismanagement, but in this case moving the initial monies to other state needs and punting on the tunnel project was shrewd.

weaselpoopcoffee1 t1_j6n5dge wrote on January 31, 2023 at 2:53 PM

Exactly. There were projections that it would be triple and possibly quadruple what the initial estimates were.

SyndicalistCPA t1_j6nnxa9 wrote on January 31, 2023 at 4:52 PM

What were the other state needs?

nesbett t1_j6oe3t7 wrote on January 31, 2023 at 7:32 PM

There were a lot of other state needs. Pension funding, pre-existing highway and other transportation costs (e.g. NJ Transit), you name it, there was a budget area that was short funded, and some at risk of legal consequence. The state's credit rating is another factor. Taking on the gateway project debt, at that time, could have been been really bad for our credit rating, and consequentially increased the state's borrowing costs. We just weren't in a financially appropriate place for that kind of project at that time.

Under Murphy, we're in a much better fiscal position, and federal support for Gateway with Biden's infrastructure plan is better now than it was back then.

I know everyone wants to crap on Christie, and I'm no supporter, but this is one topic I think he made the right moves on.

Hope this helps answer your question. Cheers.

SyndicalistCPA t1_j6ofy0d wrote on January 31, 2023 at 7:43 PM

Lmaooo so pretty much everything.

Sagacious_Sapien t1_j6p6ln8 wrote on January 31, 2023 at 10:29 PM

>Under Murphy, we're in a much better fiscal position, and federal support for Gateway with Biden's infrastructure plan is better now than it was back then.

I'm not sure I can agree with "a much better fiscal position" comment. Murphy borrowed BILLIONS ($10 billion) to fund the State's pension obligations, and to improve cash position, which almost every governor has done. Frankly, if it wasn't for the COVID funds and other federal funds that were handed out in the last couple of years, we would be in really bad shape.