NSW taxpaers would have been better off if the state government had borrowed to fund the building of all of the tollways and tunnels built in the city, an independent study has found.
The study, by Nicholas Gruen's Lateral Economics for the Western Sydney Regional Organisation of Councils, has found the state would be $4.6 billion better off if it had built and operated the tollways itself.
The findings showed that the government could no longer claim it could not afford to build or operate new transport and community infrastructure, the group's president, Cr Alison McLaren said.
The government has argued consistently that additional borrowing to fund these projects would have jeopardised the state's AAA credit rating, resulting in higher borrowing costs.
The report showed that if the government had borrowed for the projects, they would be government owned and virtually paid off by now, Ms McLaren said.
"In addition, the tolls they command would be bringing in a healthy income to the state's coffers, or alternatively, the tolls could be abolished altogether."
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