TRENTON — Gov. Chris Christie said tonight he is appealing the $271 million bill from the federal government for work done on the canceled ARC commuter train tunnel to New York City. "We are not paying the money back," Christie said during his "Ask The Governor" segment on New Jersey 101.5. Today was the deadline to respond to the...
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie announces the cancellation of the ARC tunnel into New York City in October of 2010.TRENTON — Gov. Chris Christie said tonight he is appealing the $271 million bill from the federal government for work done on the canceled ARC commuter train tunnel to New York City.
"We are not paying the money back," Christie said during his "Ask The Governor" segment on New Jersey 101.5. Today was the deadline to respond to the Federal Transit Administration.
Citing billions in projected cost overruns, Christie three months ago terminated the proposed $9.8 billion Access to the Region’s Core tunnel. The 9-mile-long tunnel beneath the Hudson River, from Secaucus to West 34th Street in Manhattan, was expected to double rail capacity in America’s busiest rail corridor.
Reiterating an argument he made earlier this month, the governor said the federal government had released the money even though the tunnel did not have final approval or safeguards in place to guard against waste.
Last month, he said the FTA was holding New Jersey to a different standard than other states that scrapped public works projects and relying on "bureaucratic power plays to wring even more money from New Jerseyans."
Earlier today, the governor gave a flippant response when asked about the tunnel money repayment.
He responded by asking how many deadlines had elapsed since the FTA said New Jersey had to repay or appeal the federal bill.
When the reporter admitted to having lost count, Christie responded, "So have I, so let’s not worry about it."
By the end of the workday, New Jersey hadn’t responded to the FTA.
Christie spokesman Michael Drewniak said the formal response would be filed by midnight.
In a letter to NJ Transit two months ago, the FTA said that if the debt became delinquent, it would charge New Jersey interest, could report the claim to commercial credit bureaus and reserved the right to forward it to the U.S. Department of Justice for debt collection.
The FTA said that if New Jersey repays the $271 million, $128 million will be made available to the state for clean-air transit projects.
Christie has retained noted Washington, D.C. law firm and lobbying shop Patton Boggs, at a rate of $485 an hour, to fight the FTA bill.
By Mike Frassinelli and Ginger Gibson/The Star-Ledger
Previous coverage:
• N.J. faces deadline to pay federal government for canceled ARC tunnel
• N.J. is given final deadline to appeal or repay $271M ARC tunnel bill
• N.Y. Sen. Charles Schumer slams Gov. Christie for redirecting ARC tunnel funds to N.J. roads
• N.J. Democrats push to end toll hikes intended to fund canceled ARC tunnel
• Decision on whether N.J. will pay bill for canceled ARC tunnel is delayed until next week
• Gov. Christie plans to use ARC tunnel money to pay for repairs to N.J. bridges and roads