Ever wonder where your toll money goes? Now you can pick up the CD and find out.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reported recently that tolls paid by truckers and others to the Delaware River Port Authority were used on a variety of projects connected to Pennsylvania state Sen. Vince Fumo. The authority, which operates four bridges in the Philadelphia area, donated the money out of a $40 million fund that it created.

Among the donations was one to Peter Nero and the Philly Pops orchestra, which received $750,000. The orchestra recently produced a CD titled “Fumo,” which in its liner notes called the state official – who coincidentally served twice as guest conductor – "the best friend the Philly Pops ever had," the newspaper reported.

But that’s not the only Fumo-connected donation the Port Authority made. Among the "economic and community development" projects that received $100,000 each were two schools that were attended by Fumo’s children. And $14 million went to nonprofit organizations run by people on Fumo's Senate payroll.

The committee that made the grants – many, but not all, connected to Fumo – is now defunct.

While truckers and other toll payers may see their money going to Fumo’s favorite charities, the people who run the Port Authority – including Fumo, a previous member of the authority board – have no such worries. That’s because the commissioners who run the bistate Delaware River Port Authority – along with past commissioners, family members of commissioners, and current and former Port Authority employees – can use the bridges for the rest of their lives for free.

Revealed late in 2003, that freebie stirred controversy even though many of those who received it don’t take advantage of it. At the time, the authority was considering eliminating toll discounts for E-ZPass customers.

The authority later decided to retain discounts for truckers, but did eliminate them for car drivers using E-ZPass.

According to The Inquirer, at the time the grant fund was set up, the Port Authority was operating with a surplus. Recently, however, the authority said it was having financial difficulties, spurring the discount eliminations.

The $40 million would come in handy now for the authority, which, according to a December statement, is facing a budget shortfall of $15 million. According to the authority’s 2002 annual report, $40 million is roughly the total amount the authority spends each year on its total bridge budget. In addition, the authority could have paid for all bridge maintenance for the past 10 years with the $40 million in donations: Between 1993 and 2002, $31.2 million – nearly $9 million less than the total amount of donations – was spent on bridge “maintenance and repair.”

And the authority has other expenses coming up that the money could have contributed to – expenses that now, apparently, will fall to train commuters and toll payers to cover. That includes a $100 million planned revamp of the authority’s high-speed commuter train.

The Port Authority operates four bridges in the Philadelphia area:

• The Walt Whitman Bridge, a suspension bridge that carries I-76 from South Philadelphia into Gloucester City, NJ;
• The Ben Franklin Bridge, also a suspension structure, which carries I-676 and U.S. 30 from Penn’s Landing to Camden, NJ; 
• The Betsy Ross Bridge, a traditional steel structure that carried New Jersey Highway 90 into Pennsylvania; and
• The Commodore Barry Bridge, which carries U.S. 322 across the river between the two states. That traditional steel structure crosses the river near Chester, PA, on the far southeastern end of the Philadelphia metro area.

The Associated Press said Sen. Fumo did not respond to requests for comment regarding the Port Authority donations.