Comments on Advance Indiana™: Seven Counties May Bid For Ownership Of Indiana Toll Road Lease

The problem w/this is selling the bonds solely bac...

2014-11-14T21:49:02.182-05:00

The problem w/this is selling the bonds solely backed by toll revenue. Depending on the projected revenues, investors will not want to buy the bonds and instead will want a backstop on the debt (i.e. tax revenue from the 7 counties). Paying around what was paid the first go around is just stupid.

And for those who think this was a stupid deal to begin with, getting a large amount of $ upfront, putting the risk onto a 3rd party, and unloading all of that annual capital costs was always going to be a good deal. Unlike the parking meter deal in Indy (which was flat out stupid) which has almost no annual capital costs, the toll road has huge capital costs for annual maintenance, staff, etc...

Mitch Daniels,as budget director, transformed a $2...

2014-11-13T20:11:15.473-05:00

Mitch Daniels,as budget director, transformed a $240 billion surplus into a $400 billion deficit within roughly 18 months. Then he "characterized" Bushes Iraqi Oil War Invasion to cost between $50-$60 billion. Running tally of the war, $1.7 trillion plus unknown hidden costs. So is anyone surprised that this Toll Road Lease failed? I thought by changing to Daylight Saving Time would create all these jobs to keep the jobs pouring into Indiana? Why don't we change our name from Hoosiers to lemmings.

With ownership diffused among 7 counties, it would...

2014-11-13T07:49:22.019-05:00

With ownership diffused among 7 counties, it would seem like a bailout (I.e. guarantee of the revenue bonds) from this venture would be unlikely. My only concern is that the tollroad won't respond to market signals but to political ones instead.

Like I said at the time, the best course is to ret...

2014-11-12T23:56:32.817-05:00

Like I said at the time, the best course is to retire all the tolls on the road and operate it as a regular Indiana Interstate.

Let the commerce that springs up along the road lift everyone's boats. That road will never be much of an economic engine as long as it has tolls and limited access. Dump the toll plazas, and build common interchanges.

We have a chance to correct Mitch Daniels' horrible failure and do it right, this time.

Piper you can trust. Mitch and buddies not so much...

2014-11-12T21:16:23.642-05:00

Piper you can trust. Mitch and buddies not so much. The writing was and is on the wall with every deal local and regional in Indiana under the pay to play team. Time to clean it all up.