Commuters will pay for Pike toll gaffe.

COLUMN: IN OUR OPINION; EDITORIAL FOOTNOTE

In another watch-your-wallet moment for Bay State residents, the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority said it would stand by the toll increases it voted recently - even though the increases were voted on the basis of a gross underestimate of the amount of revenue they would raise.

The error began as an apparent miscalculation by the consultant that did the number-crunching on toll-hike options considered by the authority board, the Boston Herald reports. Instead of the $24 million annual yield on which members based their votes, the increase will cost turnpike users an additional $30 million.

The gross miscalculation by the soon-to-be ex-consultant was inexcusable, but it is even more alarming that the mistake went undetected by the turnpike employees who were supposed to be checking the figures. If board member Mary Z. Connaughton of Framingham had not raised questions about the calculations, the $6 million gaffe might have gone unremarked upon.

The questions are inescapable: Were these the same turnpike employees who were supposed to provide fiscal oversight of the Big Dig overruns that prompted the toll hikes in the first place? If those employees are incapable of detecting even such gross miscalculations, what possible justification can there be for keeping them on the payroll?