Jill Long Thompson is an idiot.

[Episcopus]

Rubbish. Read this.

That was an opinion piece. An opinion piece published by a group that advocates for privatization. An opinion piece that didn't cite a single source. Maybe it's true, but it is covered in bias until a primary source is cited or shown. More importantly, that article doesn't say that the toll road didn't turn a profit, that the Indiana budget was balanced, or that the lease did anything but put money into that state that will be gone 65 years before the lease is up, which are the claims I made.

I am looking for sources to back up what I said. If I am wrong, I will own it. I am basing my comments on discussions with my boss, who has been involved in Indiana government for roughly as long as I have been alive. He may be wrong; his information may be dated.

I am looking for sources now, and I am more interested in being informed than right.

 

[Episcopus]

With all due respect, it's simple math. It's the time-value of money.

The lessee has spent over $88 million in 2008 so far on construction contracts for work on the Indiana Toll Road itself.

Over 97 percent of this work went to Indiana businesses, well exceeding the 90 percent target specified in the lease contract for the roughly $4 billion planned in ITR construction work over the 75-year term. That's $4 billion in addition to the $3.8 billion upfront payment that will remain in Indiana.

Indiana has also earned over $360 million in interest on the upfront payment in just two years (over $185,000 per day, at current rates) which will be used to fund additional state and local transportation projects for decades.

So, please describe to me how that could in anyway be described as a bad deal for Indiana?

I said it gave us a lot of money now. Money now is good. I understand that. I have had one big question about the lease. Among the first things done by the private company was to increase the toll rate. Why couldn't the state have increased the rate and generated more revenue?

I am not an economist. I don't know whether it was a good deal or not. All I know is what I claimed in my first post. Also, what I claimed in my first post is why people get mad about the toll road lease, which was the question asked in the post before mine.

 

[Episcopus]

FTA:

The new toll rates have doubled the road's revenue to about $160 million a year.

If true, that means that the road was generating $80 million a year.
After privatization, Indiana Toll Road's biggest difference is the price | News for Dallas, Texas | Dallas Morning News | Dallas-Fort Worth Transportation News | Dallas-Fort Worth News

This says that the toll road money is already pledged and will be gone within 10 years. It also says that there are more projects planned than the money from the lease will support.
http://www.chadbourne.com/files/Pub...639-a824-01635f6dac2a/TollRoadUpdate_0506.pdf

Page 9 says that the toll road had $88 million in toll revenue in 2005 and $95.8 million total revenue that year. '05 operating expenses totalled $35.2 million. I don't know what EBITDA is, so I don't know what that $60.6 million means, but it looks like net revenue. Page 8 says the rates hadn't been changed since '85 and were among the lowest in the nation. This link also indicates that this is hardly a "free market" resolution. There are a lot of mandates, conditions and requirements imposed on the operators by the state.
http://www.transportationfortomorro...ngton/schalliol_presentation_1006_meeting.pdf

Indiana has a $140.1 million budget deficit in '09, making that 7 out of the last 10 years with a deficit.
Indiana Local Government Information Website: Indiana State Budget

 

[jontheturboguy]

Democrats on an escalator:

YouTube - Democrats on Escalator


Mitch Daniel's numbers speak for themselves. We are one of the few states in the Union with a surplus (READ IN THE GREEN/BLACK AKA POSITIVE) of money.

He's also changed and is continuing to change one of the worst school systems in the United States - IPS.

The all day kindergarten is an absolute God send for many families who bust their ass 50 hours a week and do not trust or can not afford a baby sitter.

 

[Crystalship1]

If Jill Long Thompson was Captian Kirk:

"Full speed reverse, Mr. Sulu"!!!

 

[Episcopus]

Democrats on an escalator:

YouTube - Democrats on Escalator


Mitch Daniel's numbers speak for themselves. We are one of the few states in the Union with a surplus (READ IN THE GREEN/BLACK AKA POSITIVE) of money.

He's also changed and is continuing to change one of the worst school systems in the United States - IPS.

The all day kindergarten is an absolute God send for many families who bust their ass 50 hours a week and do not trust or can not afford a baby sitter.

Good points

 

[IUGradStudent]

That is all.

 

[right winger]

She is just like the Obamanation. Bush is to blame. B.S.