Changes to the toll have occurred as the scope and cost of the project increased over time, while the focus was on enhancing the financial transaction to the RTA and delivering the project at 'no net cost to government'. The development of the CCT project highlights two important issues.
First, there is a need for a clear definition of core project costs so that other public domain costs are not necessarily borne by the toll payers.
Second, the concept that Treasury has used for this and other recent privately financed projects is incompatible with a 'no net cost to government' approach. It is inevitable that project costs will change as the project develops. Imposing Conditions of Approval alone will always have a cost, and some of those costs will not be the responsibility of the successful tenderer. If the Government rules out absorbing such cost increases, there is no alternative but to allow changes to the 'fixed' elements of the contract. However, the integrity of the concept breaks down when any of these elements are changed. Changes happened twice in the CCT project: altering the escalation formula, and the First Amendment Deed allowing the 15 cents increase in base tolls.