Liverpool City Region’s Metro Mayor has hit back at critics of proposed Mersey Tunnel tariff increases and how it is used.
Tomorrow, the city region’s combined authority is to set its annual budget for the next financial year. Among the proposals are a rise in tolls for some motorists using the Wallasey and Birkenhead tunnels.
While the cash toll for a single journey will be frozen at £2, the price of a discounted single journey for someone living in the city region with a T Flow account will rise by 20p to £1.40. The proposals will also include the T-Flow toll for non city region residents which will rise by 20p from £1.80 to £2.
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Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram addressed members of the combined authority’s overview and scrutiny committee to outline how the budget process had been undertaken. He said it was set against the backdrop of increasing energy costs, higher interest rates and supply chain fluctuations.
Mr Rotheram described it as “the most uniquely difficult of my time, most challenging” and said the “stark reality is if we do nothing, our costs will outstrip our income by £15-20m over the next five years.” This was a situation the former MP said was “unsustainable.”
On tunnel tolls increasing, the Metro Mayor said: “Despite what people say on social media, tunnels do not make profit. It is reinvested.
“They haven’t been paid off, they won’t be paid off until 2048. The revenues generated go into a pot to support our ferries, our buses and concessionary travel - which is one of the most generous services in the country.
“At 89 and 52 years old respectively, the tunnels are getting older and require more maintenance. At some point, we’ll have to do something about replacing them.”
Responding to questions from members, the Metro Mayor said in some cases fares hadn't increased for 27 years and "we have tried to hold them as long as possible" but "we are going to have to raise them this time." Across other areas Mr Rotheram repeated his hope that new Merseyrail trains would enter the rolling stock as early as next week.
He said the service was facing budgetary pressures but was “recovering strongly” from the financial difficulties caused by coronavirus. Elsewhere, the Metro Mayor said he and officers had been contending with tariffs, the “illegal and murderous” invasion of Ukraine, and a Green premium.
He said despite this, there would be no rolling back of the city region’s commitment to tackling the climate emergency, describing it as the “biggest existential threat” it faces. Mr Rotheram added that he and local authority leaders had the desire to not add to the financial burden during a cost of living crisis.
As a result, the Mayoral precept will be frozen, remaining at £12-14 per year on the average council tax bill across the city region.
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