PA Turnpike Officials Gifted With Cars, Gas Money

Sweet deal

So what if you have to pay a little extra to use the state's major east-west highway? At least the guys at the top have sweet rides.

Tolls on the Pennsylvania Turnpike have increased for five consecutive years and the highway's debt burden has ballooned by more than 200 percent since 2007.  At the same time, the men charged with running the turnpike received new cars valued at more than $28,000 each and were reimbursed for the cost of gas and maintenance, according to an audit released by Auditor General Jack Wagner this week.

The Turnpike Commission spent more than $406,000 purchasing vehicles for commissioners between January 2007 and August 2011, according to the audit.  The turnpike did not limit those vehicles exclusively to work-related purposes.