Bay Staters should be used to the bad news by now: our taxes rise, rates increase and fees keep spiking.
This time it’s Massport, which last month shared a plan that would increase rideshare fees to and from Boston Logan airport by more than $15 roundtrip within the next decade. The controversy lies in that transportation network company Uber has said that Massport is really looking to raise rideshare fees to $23 roundtrip by 2031.
“Our drivers are going to feel it, and our riders are going to feel it, in an era where residents of the Bay State are looking for affordability. This is not the best path forward,” said Josh Gold, Uber Senior Director of Public Policy & Communications.
But whether fee hikes, rate hikes or tax hikes are affordable to those who must pay them is not top of mind with those at the top. They want the money, and we’re just along for the ride.
According to Massport spokesperson Jennifer Mehigan, who earned $225,744 last year, the quasi-public agency is putting together “an overall strategic ground transportation plan, requiring both capital and operating investments.” If approved, she said, the proposal would “invest hundreds of millions to improve ground transportation at Logan for all passengers, including those who use and drive for the Ride Apps.”
Massport has big plans for Logan. But it also has big, big salaries to pay.
And that’s the sticking point as taxpayers and consumers of local services and utilities face ever-rising bills: we know revenue isn’t just going to improve deliveries, or services or terminals.
It’s going to help fat salaries get fatter.
The Herald continues to pull back the curtain on Massachusetts public and quasi-public payroll, and many at Massport are living large.
Massport’s aviation director Ed Freni earned $578,720 in total pay last year through the end of November, coming in as the highest earner out of the quasi-state agencies that have reported payrolls to the state Comptroller’s Office.
John Pranckevicius, an administration director, earned $363,502, according to the agency’s payroll submitted Nov. 29. And Rich Davey, who took over Massport leadership as its CEO in August, has a starting salary of $420,000.
They may be great at their jobs, but so are a lot of people who make a fraction of what they do. Its quasi-public status also means Massport is in on the payment-in-lieu-of-taxes deal with both Boston and Winthrop.
“As passengers increase at Logan, we expect even more to use Ride Apps. We need to continue to improve our infrastructure to handle the demand,” said Mehigan.
Logan is growing, the number of passengers is increasing, improvements need to be made — we get it. But stratospheric salaries and pensions? That we don’t.
“Those at the government trough are getting fat on big salaries. Quasi-public and private schemes … are getting rich off the taxpayer’s generosity,” said Paul Diego Craney, spokesman for state watchdog Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance.
Being generous is a purposeful act, a voluntary desire to spread largesse. When that “generosity” comes in the form of a fee slapped on top of a ride fare, it’s called being squeezed.
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