GOP on the Toll Road stump

INDIANAPOLIS | Top aides to Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels made a legislative push to privatize the Indiana Toll Road on Tuesday, but Northwest Indiana lawmakers say the sales pitch wasn't free of curveballs.

State budget director Chuck Shalliol raised eyebrows when he revealed that a private lease would include a noncompete clause barring the state from building a new east-west highway 10 miles north or south of the Toll Road.

Rep. John Aguilera, D-East Chicago, asked if that would interfere with future plans for an Illiana Expressway connecting Interstate 65 with Ill. 394 in Illinois.

"I asked the question, and I got a very vague answer," Aguilera said. "Seventy-five years is a long time, and I don't think that was given any consideration. This (Illiana Expressway) is a reality. It's going to happen at some point."

Preliminary plans show the expressway being built south of the 10-mile buffer zone, though, the state has yet to set aside funds for an official study. The state would have to compensate the Toll Road operator if it built more than 20 miles of east-west highway within the buffer zone, Shalliol said.

Daniels needs the Legislature's permission to move ahead with a 75-year lease of the northern Toll Road and plans to build a privately financed tollway connecting Evansville with Indianapolis.

But the authorizing legislation, House Bill 1008, also would allow the administration to privatize unnamed airports, bridges and intermodal facilities.

Some lawmakers remained skeptical of those provision, even after Tom Sharp, the governor's transportation commissioner, assured them any new privatization effort would move slowly and would go before a public hearing.

Democrats, meanwhile, are not convinced the legislation would prohibit a private toll road operator from setting up tax-free hotels and shops along the roadway. Shalliol said the operator would run tollway oasis restaurants only, and would have to pay sales and income taxes on those operations. The operator would, however, be exempt from property taxes on those existing facilities, Shalliol said.

Democrats weren't the only ones expressing concern over the multifaceted lease proposal. State Rep. Ralph Ayres, R-Chesterton, said the state isn't offering the region enough money to mitigate the stress that Ind. 49 and other access roads will see because of higher tolls.

Daniels plans to nearly double commuter tolls later this year and dramatically increase truck rates over four years.

Meanwhile, the seven counties surrounding the Toll Road have been promised about $1 billion or 34 percent of the net lease proceeds. The size of those proceeds aren't yet known.

Bids on the lease are due Friday. Daniels is scheduled to give some indication of their scope next on Monday.