why we won't lease the turnpike

[luckyleftyme2]

I'm sure you have heard that short fat loud mouth who rants about how much money the state would make if we leased the turnpike to a private company to run it.
Out side of the fact it would be like pulling teeth to have them maintain it,do the normal maintenance etc. they want to turn a profit! hmmm which translate to putting off maintenance!
here's just one of many facts you can find out about leasing roads!
If It Sounds Too Good ... What You Need to Know, but Don't, About Privatizing Infrastructure
Saturday 05 March 2011
by: Ellen Dannin, t r u t h o u t | News Analysis

-snip-

Flash forward to the present. States and cities are being told that they can fix their budgets and have money left over by leasing their infrastructure for 50, 75 or even 99 years. It sounds great, even miraculous. But we all need to slow down and do our homework, because the rule "If it sounds too good to be true, it is" still applies, and there are good reasons why state and local governments should not want any part of these deals.

The truth is that, rather than making money on just tolls and fees, private contractors make their money through big tax breaks and by squeezing state and local governments for payments for the life of the contracts.

In fact, tax breaks explain why the deals last generations. One tax break for leases that last longer than the useful life of the infrastructure allows investors to write off their investment in just over a decade. A second tax break lets private companies issue tax-free bonds to finance their deals. While tax-free bonds and tax breaks make it less expensive to finance these deals, the downside is that governments lose tax revenue. Losing tax revenue puts government budgets deeper in the red and worsens problems privatization was supposed to fix.

But that's not all. Infrastructure privatization contracts are full of "gotcha" terms that require state or local governments to pay the private contractors. For example, now when Chicago does street repairs or closes streets for a festival, it must pay the private parking meter contractor for lost meter fares. Those payments put the contractors in a much better position than the government. It gets payments, even though Chicago did not get fares when it had to close streets.

this is much closer to the truth than the rants of a history major who got a program that thrives on mis-information!

[DemocracyInaction]

1. Especially critical here in Maine

That turnpike is the life blood of this place that God forgot. Businesses better ask how much more it's going to cost to run the big trucks (out of the state or to supply their businesses)when a private company jacks up the price. In this state they will have no alternative for moving goods. Think how much goods brought into this state for sale will cost (or if suppliers refuse to do business here anymore). Side roads will be a clogged disaster with tourists trying to get in and out of the state without paying a fortune. This isn't just "some road"----this road can literally be the "ruler" of the whole state economy.

[luckyleftyme2]

2. ya know

your talking to a guy that put a lot of long hours helping build it!
and it was a bunch of forward thinking individuals that made it happen! and in the good ole days they voted it down so we built it with private funds!some of these jerks are still alive an now want to privatize it!