The authority, which has been under fire for its spending practices, signed a contract with Pennsauken last week that authorized the release of $700,000 in toll money to transform a collection of shoddy athletic fields township residents know as "The Pit."
The DRPA operates four Delaware River toll bridges and the PATCO commuter rail line between Philadelphia and South Jersey.
The $700,000 came from a $1.4 million revolving loan fund established in 1993 for Pennsauken and Gloucester City, which host two of the bridges. The resolution approving that fund made clear that the money was to be spent on economic-development projects.
That all changed during a flurry of activity at the authority's final meeting of 2009.
With Taylor abstaining, commissioners approved a resolution to convert money from the loan fund into an outright grant "to support open-space preservation," records show.
Officials passed the measure as they doled out the last of the DRPA's economic-development funds - more than $20 million - for causes around South Jersey. They pledged that new toll money would no longer go toward such projects.
The DRPA - which plans to raise bridge tolls 25 percent, to $5, next July - has faced public outcry for spending close to $400 million on projects unrelated to its bistate spans and rail line. Pennsylvania State Sen. John Rafferty (R., Chester) on Thursday called for the agency to be stripped of its economic-development spending power altogether.
The authority is preparing to enact a slew of other changes. It has been under pressure from governors on both sides of the river since it was revealed last month that the agency's public safety director allowed his daughter to use another official's free E-ZPass for 18 months, among other controversies.
