By Aleks Tapinsh, Truth Staff
Local leaders are thinking about what to do with the money they will get as a result of the Indiana Toll Road lease.
The General Assembly passed a "Major Moves" transportation bill Tuesday night which allows Gov. Mitch Daniels to lease the 157-mile Indiana Toll Road to an Australian-Spanish consortium for $3.8 billion for 75 years. Daniels signed the bill into law Wednesday.
From the $3.8 billion, the state will pay off the existing toll road debt ($225 million), administrative expenses for the lease ($25 million) and deposit $500 million in the Next Generation Trust Fund.
The area's share
The seven Northern Indiana counties in the toll road corridor will receive 34 percent of the remaining $3 billion.
Here's how the money for the toll road counties breaks down:
* Steuben, LaGrange, Elkhart, St. Joseph and LaPorte counties will receive $40 million each, which will be distributed among counties and cities and towns, based on a formula normally used to distribute money for roads and bridges.
* Each Indiana county will split $75 million a year for two years. A portion for the toll road counties will come out of the 34 percent.
* $25 million to Porter County
* $15 million to Lake County
* $40 million to the Northwest Regional Development Authority (Lake and Porter counties) in 2007. The RDA will receive $10 million every following year until 2015.
* Funds for Indiana Department of Transportation projects in those counties, which includes improvements to U.S. 33 and S.R. 13 in Elkhart County.
* Payments for up to two years of credit for state employees who lose their jobs as the direct result of the lease. State Sen. Marv Riegsecker, R-Goshen, estimates it will be $2 million.
* Payments to the Australian-Spanish consortium to cover toll discounts for drivers who use electronic tolling, similar to Illinois' I-Pass system. Riegsecker estimates that amount to be $278 million over 10 years. "Those numbers are pretty slippery," he said.
Local projects
Legislators say they expect more local projects to be added to Daniels' 10-year "Major Moves" transportation plan.
Daniels is expected to announce them within the next month, said Riegsecker, who voted for the bill. Those projects may include improvements on S.R. 19.
Elkhart County's own 10-year transportation plan forecast an $80 million deficit. The toll road lease will bring $24 million to the county's coffers.
"We need to take care of that deficit, so that's going to be our first priority," said Elkhart County Commissioner Mike Yoder.
Commissioners will meet with county council members and highway department representatives to discuss how to use the money from a long-term perspective, Yoder said. The first discussions may take place as soon as Friday.
Why some area legislators voted against it
From the legislators representing Elkhart County, only Rep. Dave Wolkins, R-Winona Lake, and Sens. Joe Zakas, R-Granger, and Ryan Mishler, R-Bremen, voted against Major Moves.
Zakas said he voted against it because it didn't include his proposal to offer a tax credit for tolls paid on the toll road. "I thought it was worth the risk to try to free people from the tolls," he said.
Mishler did not return phone calls seeking comment Wednesday.
Wolkins, the only House Republican who voted against Major Moves, doesn't regret his decision.
"I'm convinced it's a good economic deal, especially for Northern Indiana ... (but) the people need to be represented even if they don't have all the information," he said. "It was the toughest thing I had to do."
What about tolls?
Tolls for passenger cars on the Indiana Toll Road will remain unchanged until the private company installs an electronic tolling system.
The company is expected to finish it within one year. Then, noncommercial drivers who use the electronic tolling system will get a discount on tolls for the next 10 years.