Indiana privatization consultant heads Ohio Turnpike study

By On December 7, 2012 · 5 Comments

According to his resume, KPMG employee Tim Wilschetz was paid to advise the “private consortia” bidding on the Indiana Toll Road in 2005.   The following year the road was leased to foreign investors who, after doubling tolls for Indiana’s drivers, are now on track to default on their loans to finance the deal.

The project didn’t work out too well for Indiana either.  By early 2012, six years after the lease was signed, the state had already allocated all of the money it received from the deal.  Since they gave away control of the road, and all of its revenue, for 75 years, no more cash was on the way and they were right back where they started.

Privatization of the Indiana Toll Road was an unmitigated disaster for the state.  But consultant Tim Wilschetz continued to fare pretty well.

As the state’s money quickly ran out, Wilschetz shifted gears and got a new job advising Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels on other toll road and public-private partnership endeavors, including bridges that will charge state residents new tolls to commute between Indiana and Kentucky.

As we wait for the results of Kasich’s $3.4 million study of the Ohio Turnpike to be revealed, it’s worth noting that the SAME guy, Tim Wilschetz, toll road troubadour and public/private partnership panderer extraordinaire, is leading the study for KPMG on Ohio’s turnpike.

If Wilschetz’s past is any indicator, we can expect a very similar, and similarly disastrous, plan in our state.

Evangelize!
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  • oldmomma

    “foreign investors who, after doubling tolls on the road, are now on track to default on their loans to finance the deal”……….hmmm, sounds like a Bain Capital move to me!

  • dmoore2222

    I can’t wait for this. Ohio is not Indiana when it comes to politics. Kasich is gonna get drubbed over this and his party will not be behind him in picking a fight with northern Ohio voters.They’re already seeing the effects of state funding cuts to their schools and communities. To add Turnpike toll increases to that will be all they need to break out the pitchforks and torches. Who’s got the popcorn?

  • John W.

    Kasich is giving the keys to the cage to the monkeys.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=740014081 Paula Garfield

    Similar at the very least, identical, my guess, and to privatize, stack everything in Kasichs favor, and sell out yet another stae asset which makes money for the state. BIGGEST HEIST in HISTORy saga continues.

  • anastasjoy

    I am getting to know the backroads of northern Indiana well. I frequently travel between Cleveland and Chicago, and I was done with the Indiana turnpike after the increases (the Ohio turnpike too, which is already unaffordable. I cannot imagine how unusable it will be to most people if a private company doubles the tolls). Sure, you have to duck aggressive Amish buggies out by Shipshewana, but you save a ton of money and see a lot of interesting sights.

    Given the lengths of these leases, I think it should be required that whatever revenue comes in be allocated equally to each year of the lease. That would discourage politicians from giving away taxpayer-owned assets to get a chunk of quickly gone money. In Chicago, the money for the 75-year giveaway of the parking meter franchise was mostly gone in the first year, and citizens are still seething about it. Some believe this led to Mayor Daley’s abdication from the mayoral throne. Selling the turnpike could be turned into an even bigger political disaster for Kasich.

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