Truth
Gov. Mitch Daniels' idea of leasing the Indiana Toll Road to a private interest has not been wildly popular along some of the counties in the corridor, particularly here.
After all, why sell what is the state's largest asset and one so vitally important to northern Indiana?
The answer, according to the governor, is to take the proceeds -- which will be measured in billions of dollars -- and use them for road projects across the state.
Ahhh ... therein lies one of the problems for people in these parts: Much of the money will not remain here.
When Daniels announced his "Major Moves" 10-year transportation plan, he also outlined a plan to raise tolls and spend $770 million of the profits for projects along the toll road corridor. One of the reasons we liked that portion of the plan was that we felt it recognized that the toll road has economic benefits primarily to the counties along its corridor in northern Indiana (and vice versa).
If he leases the toll road, there won't be any toll profits to spend here.
Since it's currently being kept secret how much interest there is in the 157-mile toll road (we know there was more than one letter of interest submitted last week), there's also no firm estimate on how much it might bring in. But you can compare it to the 8-mile Chicago Skyway, which is being leased for 99 years and for which the city was paid a lump sum of $1.8 billion.
With no estimate, there's also no guarantee from the Daniels administration on how much money will be earmarked for northern Indiana or how the money will be managed over the life of the lease.
We're not convinced the lease of the toll road is in the state's best interest and it's certainly not in the best interest of Elkhart and St. Joseph counties.
But if this is going to be rammed through the Legislature, as it appears now, our local legislative delegation needs to make sure that they have an alternative plan -- some solid protections that make sure a significant portion of the proceeds stay in this area.
Legislators also need to have firm assurances from the governor that there will be some kind of long-term investment of money that will leave the toll road corridor counties with an ongoing funding mechanism for projects. There's really been no discussion of that for our area.
This could also be an opportunity. If it appears that they will be unable to stop the lease of the toll road, legislators, business leaders and other local government officials should try to get something in return for losing one of our significant assets. That should be U.S. 31. Right now, the project is scheduled to begin in 2011, but that's three years after the governor's first term expires. He can't guarantee anything beyond 2008 and with the way state government works, the entire priority list could be upended by the time U.S. 31 is supposed to break ground.
We like the idea of leveraging the U.S. 31 project and getting that shovel in the ground before Daniels' term is over. It will also prove that he's serious about making it a priority. Right now, that is one of the largest projects not tied to any creative financing in the Major Moves program, so it's not dependent on tolls or a public/private partnership, as is I-69 in southern Indiana. Further reprioritizing could make it a reality.
There are barely eight weeks until the Legislature convenes for its short session in January, so there isn't much time to act. Our legislative delegation needs to get off the stick now and start working together to come up with a workable plan (or two) that protects the transportation interests of Elkhart and St. Joseph counties.
They only need to look to northwestern Indiana and what legislators there got out of the last session by putting partisanship aside and working together -- the Northwest Indiana Development Authority received a substantial sum in a cash-strapped budget for some key projects in the region. The authority also is a focal point in the Major Moves program, with $100 million earmarked for economic development projects there through the toll increase. It's a good model for our legislators to follow.
Once legislators come up with a plan, then the chambers and city, town and county officials can step in and help as well.
Time is running out if we hope to gain anything in this painful process.