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A COUNT US!
Special Edition, Getting up to speed on
privatization:
As we read Associated Press Reports, it is always interesting to look at the office the reports come from. Below, the Texas trip by our Indiana Governor is covered by the Evansville division. It is our impression AP Evansville and Indianapolis divisions are best serving the I-69 proponents as new spin masters replacing Brian Nicol. If not prodded, we don't expect those branches of the AP to report any time soon the Texas plan to grant absolute eminent domain/ development rights to a 1 mile wide swath of Texas from South to North to a Spanish Company for fifty years. We follow today's Indiana AP Daniels travel story with some Longhorn State privatization documentation from Texas. Now we learn the Spanish company, Cintra-Zachry, wants Tax dollars legislators assumed would come from Spain and the company is suing to protect their private property rights to ideas, funding and information! Can we call that Ironic? Daniels' attraction to the Texas plans seen with new the Supreme Court decision broadening the eminent domain powers for any project that will potentially increase tax revenue collected and we are not sure who wins this battle that is shaping up. Hoosiers are not going to like what they hear (if and when they hear) about lost private property rights, but no new taxes for a shinny piece of foreign owned concrete might sound fine to some if they are outside the boundary of proposed I-69. Governor Daniels has a long record of statements regarding the funding for I-69 and his consideration of a Private Toll Road as a possible solution. You can visit the COUNT US! PAC coverage by clicking here. We understand that the Texas opposition (Corridor Watch) leadership has had a recent family tragedy, but their last report suggested an awaking of public opinion and coverage there. *********************** Posted on Thu, Jul. 21, 2005 http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/fortwayne/news/local/12186744.htm INDOT turns to Texas for I-69 project pointers EVANSVILLE – The Indiana Department of Transportation is looking to a $7.9 billion highway project in Texas for ideas on how to quicken construction of the Interstate 69 extension in Indiana, Gov. Mitch Daniels said Wednesday. Daniels said federal and state transportation officials returned Tuesday night from Texas, where they were examining methods such as public and private partnerships that are being used to build the Trans-Texas Corridor. Indiana should be open to ideas from Texas as both states share transportation needs that are large compared with the available funds, Daniels said. “The old-fashioned way will be the slowest way,” Daniels said. “We’re down there to see what we can learn and maybe apply to I-69.” Last month, Indiana transportation officials said they had uncovered long-range planning documents indicating that construction of I-69, which would connect Indianapolis and Evansville, was not scheduled to start until 2017. Gary Abell, a transportation department spokesman, said the trip to Texas was planned when INDOT announced a $2.1 billion gap in money available for transportation projects last May. Daniels asked the department to find ways to continue with construction despite the shortfall, he said. “Any good business looks at best practices. Any good business
wants
to see what others are doing because you can always learn. And that’s
what we’re doing,” Abell said. “We were on a fact-finding trip.” **************************** COUNT US! researcher, Charles Ramsden has found much of
interest in the google search "managed
traffic lanes". Many of the google links found there are from
Texas. Our initial understanding is that this provides
access to details that expose a complex method of guaranteeing profit
to private (usually foreign) toll road builders and operators who avoid
property taxes, benefit from eminent domain as they act as a lending
institution to states that otherwise could not go in debt for road
construction. Citizens of the states would pay the tolling company a
profit, pay the counties lost tax revenue from "privatized" property
leased from the state and pay the "toll" as taxes as local and state
governments would be billed for "use" of the interstate. The lack
of toll booths, by design might try to make the program "acceptable" as
the "tolling" might unfairly be distributed to the county or state
government rather than to the individual users. As a plan of smoke and mirrors, one might question the
constitutionality of this scheme as eminent domain abuse and violation
of the requirement for the state to operate with a balanced budget. ************************** KWTX Waco, Texas:
http://www.kwtx.com/home/headlines/1621012.html Trans-Texas Corridor Developer Looks For Tax Dollars 
Cintra-Zachry, the joint construction venture that won a $7 billion contract to start work on the controversial Trans Texas Corridor project, has written a letter to the Federal Highway Administration expressing interest in a $320 million low-interest loan. Critics say Cintra-Zachry won the contract in part because it said it would not use public dollars, but the governor’s office and the consortium say the deal didn't prohibit using federal money. Only state money was mentioned. Kathy Walt, spokeswoman for the governor, says the inquiry involves a loan, not a grant. But some state leaders remain skeptical. Mike Sizemore, press secretary for Senator Ken Armbrister, says the deal was touted as using private funds. He says this is the first he's heard of them essentially seeking tax money for the project. The Texas Department of Transportation signed a contract in April with the Cintra-Zachry consortium for planning of the controversial project, which is the most ambitious highway construction project since the Eisenhower administration launched the effort to build an interstate highway system. The $184 billion plan calls for a 4,000-mile network of transportation corridors that would crisscross the state with separate highway lanes for passenger vehicles and trucks, passenger rail, freight rain, commuter rail and dedicated utility zones. Designers envision a corridor with six separate passenger vehicle lanes and four commercial truck lanes; two high speed passenger rail lines, two freight rain lines and two commuter rail lines and a utility zone that will accommodate water, electric, natural gas, petroleum, fiber optic and telecommunications lines. Under the agreement, Cintra-Zachry will begin work on a master development plan for the first segment of the corridor, which will parallel Interstate 35 from San Antonio to Oklahoma. The plan will take 12 to 15 months to complete, Perry’s office said. Cintra, which is an international engineering and construction firm, and the San Antonio-based Zachry Construction Corporation, have agreed to provide $7.2 billion for construction of the first six segments of the project, Perry’s office said. According to published reports, Cintra will spend $6 billion to build a four-lane toll road on the corridor and will pay the state $1.2 billion in return for the exclusive rights to operate the toll road for 50 years. Cintra would also operate businesses along the route. Officials in Interstate 35 corridor cities such as Waco and Dallas are concerned about the commercial impact of the project. McLennan County Commissioners approved a resolution in February opposing the corridor. The Waco-based Texas Farm Bureau also opposes the project because of concerns about the loss of farm and ranchland and the impact of the construction on the tax base of Texas counties and communities. Click Here For Interactive Map Of Proposed Corridor Route Click Here For Trans-Texas Corridor Web Site Click Here For Background Information On The Trans-Texas Corridor Click Here For An Opposing Point Of View From Corridor Watch***************************** We find this concern over private property of ideas particulary ironic. http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/metropolitan/3241928 Contractor sues to keep Trans-Texas details hiddenBy RAD SALLEECopyright 2005 Houston Chronicle The controversial Trans-Texas Corridor project continues to travel a hard road On Friday Cintra Zachry, the only developer under contract with the state for a leg of the project, asked a court in Austin to block release of its development and financing plans, which Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott has said are public record. The Houston Chronicle sought Abbott's opinion after the Texas Department of Transportation refused to reveal its plans for the project, called TTC-35. It includes a $7.2 billion toll road from Dallas to San Antonio that could eventually reach from Oklahoma to Mexico. Rail tracks and pipelines could come later. Under a March 31 agreement with TxDOT, Cintra Zachry has the inside track to build the facilities and operate them for the state for the next 50 years. When the agreement was signed, its contents were made public except for the nuts and bolts contained in the conceptual plans. The lawsuit, filed by the company and TxDOT against Abbott, contends that these plans "represent the core of Cintra Zachry's proprietary information" and that the company would be harmed by their release because TxDOT may still choose another developer who comes up with a better idea. Abbott's opinion had rejected similar arguments. Attorney Joe Larsen, who represents the Chronicle on open records matters, called the lawsuit "a waste of taxpayer money" and "simply a further effort to conceal the terms of a contract that the Texas taxpaying public will have to live with for the next 50 years." Cintra Zachry also took heat last week for inquiring about a low-interest loan of $320 million from the Federal Highway Administration. The corridor idea was sold to the public as costing nothing to taxpayers. Although a loan is very different from a taxpayer-funded grant, this type of loan carries interest rates well below market levels. Meanwhile, the Texas Legislature may have helped project backers over one early hurdle � opposition from the Texas Farm Bureau to having rural land divided by the broad corridors. A transportation bill from this year's regular session says the state must compensate owners for loss of value when access to part of their property is reduced by the corridor. The bill also bars withdrawing underground water from the corridor and taking it off-site. Addressing another issue that caused anxiety for officials and
business people along the planned route, the bill limits development on
the corridor to gas stations and convenience stores. ************************* Trans-Texas Corridor consortium seeks public money
06/23/2005
The consortium that won a $7.2 billion deal to build the first
part
of the Trans-Texas Corridor, in part because it promoted use of private
money, has inquired about public money. Cintra-Zachry wrote a letter to the Federal Highway
Administration saying it is interested in applying for a $320 million
low-interest loan. The developer said in the letter that the loan would
help build the 42-mile State Highway 130 extension from south of Austin
to Seguin, estimated at $1 billion. Some say the inquiry contradicts deal-breaking claims that no
taxpayer money would be used on the project. The Gov.'s Office and the
consortium say the deal didn't prohibit using federal money. Only state
money was mentioned. When the state and Cintra-Zachry signed the deal March 11,
Gov.
Rick Perry's office issued a news release saying that the construction
would be done "at no cost to taxpayers." "I believe we always said state dollars" would not be used,
said Texas Department of Transportation spokeswoman Gaby Garcia. "At
the time Cintra-Zachry came on, we looked only at (whether there would
be) the inclusion of state dollars. That's how we defined it." When Cintra-Zachry officials presented some of their plans for
the corridor in December, they emphasized private funding for the
public project. Perry was not surprised that the consortium would seek
innovative forms of financing, according to Kathy Walt, spokeswoman for
Perry. The request doesn't contradict Cintra-Zachry's previously stated
goals about private funding, she said. "I disagree that the perception is any different here," Walt
said. "A loan is a loan. It's not a grant, and it will be paid back
with interest." Some state leaders remain skeptical. "This is the first we've heard of them essentially seeking tax
money for the project," said Mike Sizemore, press secretary for Sen.
Ken Armbrister, D-Victoria, who has questioned the corridor project.
"The whole thing is, it was touted as using private funds." ___ Information from: The Dallas Morning News, http://www.dallasnews.com ************************** Texas Bill reacts to protect private property Texas Legislators have reacted to the backlash as the public learned of the Spanish owned contract on their states private lands. This bill was touted as a victory for the Citizen highway opposition group Corridor Watch.
*********** http://rismedia.com/index.php/article/articleview/11001/1/1/
By Polly Ross Hughes ************************ http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/opinion/11990520.htm  Staying busy in AustinKeeping things moving in Texas Special to the Star-Telegram This year, the Texas Legislature successfully addressed two emotional and sometimes controversial issues: the Trans-Texas Corridor and toll roads. Thanks to House Bill 2702, just signed into law, Texas has stronger protections for private property and water rights, local tax revenue and road access, and business development opportunities along the Trans-Texas Corridor. The Legislature listened to all sides, including the Texas Farm Bureau, the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers and other agricultural groups, and addressed concerns about the new Trans-Texas Corridor road project. We protected the rights of local residents against converting existing roads into toll roads. For urban and suburban drivers, we ensured that toll revenues will be spent in the area where they are collected. And we created a blueprint for improving railroad safety and efficiency. The Trans-Texas Corridor allows needed roads to be completed and opened years sooner, without massive new state spending or higher gasoline taxes for consumers. In previous generations, the farm-to-market road and federal interstate highway systems sparked stiff and emotional opposition. Today, the Trans-Texas Corridor is generating significant controversy -- some justified, some not. HB 2702 addresses the criticism, especially issues of concern to rural Texas. Legislators protected local tax rolls, safety regulations, and access and development rights. HB 2702 requires private Trans-Texas Corridor operators of commercial facilities to pay local property taxes and abide by local zoning and building regulations. Private contractors may not develop commercial businesses, such as hotels or restaurants, in the corridor right of way. Local landowners do have the specific right to develop property and businesses adjacent to the corridor and within the corridor in cases in which developmental rights have been retained. Easy access on and off the Trans-Texas Corridor is important to local communities. Texas law now requires each segment of the Trans-Texas Corridor to provide ready on and off ramps for federal and state highways and consideration of access to major farm-to-market, county and local roads where feasible and with the input of local officials. The final corridor route has not been determined. But for private property owners along the eventual route, the state will be required to pay the fair market value for acquired property and any damaged property. Property owners can choose to sell their property outright or receive royalty payments from revenues attributable to a segment of a toll project. This innovative solution treats land along the corridor like oil and gas lands, allowing property owners to receive ongoing royalty payments for the use of their land. State officials will remain accountable and in charge of toll rates and collections. We mandated that the state, not private operators, will oversee toll rates, plans for collection, penalties and any changes to rates and policies. HB 2702 helps end the controversy over converting existing non-tolled roads into toll roads. State law now prohibits converting existing roadways to toll roads unless local county commissioners and voters approve. The construction of additional tolled lanes along existing roadways is allowed, so long as motorists have access to the same or greater number of non-tolled lanes after a project is completed. We strengthened the environmental review process for the Trans-Texas Corridor and ensured that federal and state governments maintain complete environmental oversight. Once federal environmental approval is granted, the Texas Department of Transportation must post the final environmental impact statement on its Web site and provide notice to each state legislator and county commissioner representing an impacted area. The protection of water rights and quality is always a priority in Texas. Any Trans-Texas Corridor proposal involving the transporting of ground water must provide written notice to local county commissioners and water districts. Pumping ground water from the corridor right of way for private purposes is strictly prohibited. HB 2702 also responds to the rash of railroad accidents in Texas and the need for improving freight rail systems. The state Transportation Department now has the authority to acquire, finance, construct, maintain and operate freight or passenger rail and administer most federal rail dollars coming into Texas. This move allows rail relocations and safety improvements to be planned and implemented by a single state agency. The one thing on which everyone can agree is that Texas needs new roads and transportation solutions. Twenty-two million people live here, and another 13 million are expected by 2040. The number of vehicles traveling our roads is up 61 percent since 1980 and growing. New roads and toll roads have always been controversial. HB 2702 shows that reasonable rural, urban and suburban residents can work together to protect local and private property rights and get needed transportation infrastructure built years sooner. Better transportation is on the way, and that's good news for public safety, commuter convenience and economic opportunity in every region of our state. State Sen. Todd Staples, R-Palestine, represents Texas Senate District 3. He is chairman of the Committee on Transportation and Homeland Security and sponsored HB 2702 in the Senate. ******************** Who is Cintra-Zachry? June 24, 2005, 7:22AM Spanish-led group seeks federal loan for corridor projectCritics say move breaks a vow not to use tax fundsBy RAD SALLEECopyright 2005 Houston Chronicle A Spanish-led consortium, chosen by state highway officials to privately develop a toll road through Central Texas and operate it for profit for 50 years, is seeking a $320 million low-interest federal loan for part of the job. Although the company, Cintra-Zachry, and Texas Department of Transportation officials say the loan would be legal and would benefit Texans, critics of the $7.2 billion Trans-Texas Corridor project note Gov. Rick Perry said it would be built "at no cost to taxpayers." "We think the governor's office and TxDOT have once again demonstrated their willingness to play word games with the citizens of Texas," said David Stall of CorridorWatch.com, which has campaigned statewide against the plan. "Cintra seeking federal money seems contrary to the constant assurances ... that no taxpayer dollars were being spent on this project and that one advantage of the project was the exclusive use of private money," Stall said in a prepared statement.
Planned all alongA Cintra-Zachry statement says the company has planned to use a federal loan "from day one" and describes such a loan as "part of a broader array of financing to overcome gridlock on Texas roadways and get drivers and goods moving again."Cintra-Zachry and TxDOT spokeswoman Gaby Garcia noted that the Texas Transportation Commission approved an order Dec. 16 allowing Trans-Texas Corridor projects to be funded "under appropriate circumstances" with money provided under the federal Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act of 1998. Garcia said there is no way taxpayers could be left holding the bag. "It is a loan," she said. "They (Cintra-Zachry) will repay its interest � not the state. The state by law is barred from backing any of their financial obligations."
Needed to complete routeOn June 10, Cintra-Zachry sent the Federal Highway Administration a letter stating its interest in a $320 million loan to complete the Texas 130 toll road east of Austin.TxDOT has built the northern half of the route, but Garcia said funding has not been obtained for the southern half. The company would use the loan to continue the route to Seguin, at a cost of $1 billion. Texas 130 may eventually become part of the Trans-Texas Corridor project that Cintra-Zachry was chosen by TxDOT on March 11 to develop from Dallas to San Antonio. Eventually the corridor could include freight and passenger rail and utilities, and stretch from Oklahoma to the Mexico border. Garcia said the northern half of Texas 130 will be operated by the state. And the company is not guaranteed to develop the southern half, she said, although its agreement with TxDOT puts it first in line for the work. A statement by TxDOT Executive Director Michael Behrens notes that the corridor project � designated TTC-35 because it generally parallels Interstate 35 � would be owned by the state. Contracting with Cintra-Zachry to build and operate it "allows the state to use tax dollars for other projects" along the corridor, Behrens said. ****************** We set up a Google Search Cintra-Zachry that
can keep
you busy all day. *************** The Illinois Toll Road sold to
Cintra of Spain for 1.8 Billion Dollars. It has
excited proponents of privatization. It is Daniels Model for the
Sale of the Indiana Toll Road. We quote heavily from a pro
tolling think tank below in the paragraphs indented. Look at what
the proponents, here the Reason Foundation, have to say
about the sale of this state run asset. We are concerned that these privatized toll road proponents are blinded by their pro privatization bias: The Global Toll Roads Industry. http://www.rppi.org/ps334.pdf
Note that they support the Foreign privatization company for
lowering American's wages, because they claim "Higher employee pay
means higher tolls."" BTW, Illinois was showing a profit with this road before it
was sold:
If the state had doubled the tolls, and traffic continued to
use the road at the same volume, the profits would have increased to
$43.2 million for one year. This return would have yielded the same
$1.8 Billion in 41.6 years. For the private company to recover
their investment and then make a profit in less than $41.6 years, the
costs to operated the road must be reduced. Do they have magic
asphalt of better quality, or are they simply removing or lowering the
benefits and wages of more US citizen's jobs and then providing a
more costly toll? If you think these proponents of privatized tolling don't
realize that the tolls charge will and are increasing, we share this
quote:
The Tolling proponents are so biased toward privatization from
any quarter, that they seem to forget their goal of providing
benefit
to USA road users, taxpayers, and U.S. residents seeking
employment. North Americans seem forgoten in the excitement over
public property liquidation to privatized tolling regardless of the
"privateer's" home country:
So what! If their position is clear to you, drop
us an e-mail.
Frankly, we don't get it. Libertarians and Republican have often been among our
strongest supporters opposing I-69 for property right reasons and
because the I-69
project is such a boondoggle project. We fear that this issue may
cost us their support, but as they support privatization, we
think they should consider the roads of
the USA a different animal. A world where any mega cooperation
can privatize others private property to compete with another
privatized road(s) would be a world dominated with asphalt and
bulldozer. And a place of numerous under utilized or bankrupted
roadways instead of farmland and valuable real-estate. The
bottom line, this is privatization vs private
property. This is a new tax, where the tax money is as
likely to next build a road in China as provide benefit to the USA . ******************* Details of the
Indiana Contract: http://finance.news.com.au/story/0,10166,17930417-14334,00.html
This article from Australia,
says the Spanish and Australian firms buying the toll road expect to
generate 13% returns? (That's 13% per year, presumably.)
The article was cited in the "Taking Down Words" blog.
MIG's toll road bid 'astonishes'From:
 By Robert Clow
January 25, 2006 MACQUARIE Infrastructure Group and Cintra of Spain are planning sharp price rises on the Indiana Toll Road after yesterday agreeing to pay an "astonishing" $US3.85 billion ($5.11 billion) to the state for the asset. The price is nearly double the $US2 billion minimum the state had been seeking and set a record for the price any US state has been offered for any asset."It's unprecedented," said Charles Schalliol, Governor Mitch Daniels's budget director. "This is a blowout bid for the state." But both Macquarie Infrastructure Group (mig.ASX:Quote,News) and Cintra said they expected to generate returns of up to 13 per cent on the $US385 million of equity each will contribute to the bid assuming legislators approve the deal. The rest will be funded by a bank loan. "We think it is a fair price for what we see as an attractive asset," said MIG managing director Stephen Allen. MIG's share price rose 2c to $3.47 yesterday. The deal brings to $16 billion the amount MIG and its partners have committed to major toll roads in the past month. In December MIG, in a consortium with france's Eiffage and Macquarie European Infrastructure Fund, agreed to pay the French Government $11billion for the Autoroutes Paris-Rhin-Rhone (APRR).The 253km Indiana Toll Road (ITR), nicknamed "the Main Street of the Midwest," carries 50 million cars a year and is a section of the east-west Interstate 90 that runs between Boston and Seattle. It also joins the Chicago Skyway, a 12.5km road that Macquarie and Cintra bought for $US1.83 billion last year in a deal that kicked off a wave of toll-road sales in the US. Like the APRR the ITR is an established road, with growth expected to come more from toll increases than from significant traffic growth seen in newer toll roads operated by MIG. "The attraction for us of this road is the growth of revenues," Mr Allen said. The ITR's tolls have not been increased since 1985. As part of the concession agreement, passenger tolls will be increased from US3c per 1.6km to US5.1c per 1.6km until 2010. Tolls on commercial vehicles will step up annually from 11.4c per 1.6km to 20.3c. Mr Schalliol said four offers for the toll road were made from six bidders who were considering the project. He would not identify the other companies or how much they bid for the road, whose tolls range from a $US2.70 commuter rate for cars to $US28.75 for the biggest trucks. "We will deposit this astonishing sum, equalling more than a decade of new construction funding at the current level, into a new trust fund," Mr Daniels said overnight in the US on Monday.
*********************
More recent Governor Daniels details on Toll 69 proposals are
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