U.S. Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va., has asked Virginia Attorney General Robert McDonnell to check whether the owners of the Dulles Greenway toll road, who are planning to raise tolls from $3 to $4.80 by 2012, are using proper accounting methods.
The company, Toll Road Investors Partnership II, is legally allowed to raise fess for commuters if it cannot make a profit on the toll road. Determining profitability – and whether tolls go up – relies on accurate accounting. If the accounting is are flawed, Wolf said, “You’re in a perpetual problem and you can say I’ve got to keep rolling these tolls up and up and up.”
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The concern stems from an article in the September issue of Fortune magazine, which raised questions about the accounting practices of Australia-based Macquarie Bank. Macquarie Infrastructure Group, which is a partner in TRIP II, is a Macquarie Bank company.
“It is imperative that Macquarie’s financial records be scrutinized to ensure the firm has not violated the public trust by potentially circumventing our laws in order to raise tolls on the Greenway,” Wolf said.
“All of the information filed with the State Corporation Commission in support of the recent toll filing was factual and accurate,” said Greenway spokeswoman Ann Huggins-Lawler said.
Wolf wrote a letter to McDonnell Monday outlining his request for more scrutiny.
“The Attorney General has directed members of the staff to look into the matter,” McDonnell spokesman Tucker Martin said.
