Editorial “Turnpike lease” opines: “Ohio Gov. John Kasich last week said he wants to explore leasing the Ohio Turnpike. Kasich estimates the lease could bring in $3.2 billion upfront with $1 billion earmarked for transportation infrastructure needs.
“That’s considerably less than the amount groups were willing to pay to lease the Pennsylvania Turnpike. The Spanish firm Albertis Infraestrctures SA and Citi Infrastructure Investors from New York initially offered $12.8 billion up front to lease the turnpike for 75 years….
“Rendell’s idea — to invest the money and use the interest to pay for infrastructural repairs — makes sense only if you believe lawmakers are disciplined enough to not use the money for other needs….”
WATCHDOG: What would otherwise be a good editorial is flawed by the failure to mention how much the Turnpike profits currently contribute to the state revenues. This is critical to any decision to operate or to sell. Nevertheless, we suspect the offer of $12.8 billion at the height of the economic bubble may have been well worth taking. They call that “Monday morning quarterbacking.”
