Add a lawsuit and an audit to the list of major annoyances faced by the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, stemming from a series of controversial decisions about plans for the Dulles Rail.
A lawsuit filed late last week by two Virginia residents claims that MWAA has no authority to collect tolls for the Dulles Toll Road in excess of those needed for upkeep.
Under current agreements, toll revenue is expected to cover about 75 percent of the multibillion dollar Dulles Rail project.
“Creating surplus revenue from the tolls … [converts] what is supposed to be a legitimate user fee into a tax,” the suit said. Under the Virginia Constitution, MWAA “cannot be given power to tax because it is an unelected ‘public’ entity.”
The lawsuit was filed by John Corr of Great Falls, and John Grigsby of Hillsboro. Both say they are frequent (and much aggrieved) toll road users.
If that’s not enough to make the MWAA board sweat a bit, Virginia Del. Tag Greason, R-Loudoun, recently requested a state audit of the project to extend Metro to Dulles.
Citing MWAA’s decision to build a more expensive underground Metro stop, as opposed to an aboveground stop, Greason wrote, “I am concerned that the significant cost overruns could put undue pressure on my constitutents who travel the Dulles Toll Road daily.”
MWAA Chairman Charles Snelling sent a letter to local officials Monday suggesting another meeting between his board and the Virginia officials stuck with funding the megaproject.
U.S. Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va., is meeting with reporters Monday to call on MWAA to reverse its decision to build the station underground.
