Expenditures

The Regional Plan Association, an independent regional planning organization dedicated to economic competitiveness issues in the New York-New Jersey-Connecticut region, suggests that the revenues obtained from a concession should be used to ensure the future of the state's transportation capital program and improve the government's long-term fiscal stability.72

Chicago will spend the majority of its lease payment by 2013, eight years after it struck the Skyway deal. Although none of the funds were allocated to transportation-only projects, they enabled Chicago to pay off $463 million of existing Skyway debt; refund $392 million of long- and short-term general obligation debt issued by the city; create two reserve fund accounts, one of which generates $25 million in annual interest for the city; and start a neighborhood funds account. Those moves led to Standard & Poor's raising Chicago's general obligation bond rating, which lowered the city's cost of borrowing in the future. In Canada, Toronto's decision makers took a shorter-term view after enacting the concession of Highway 407. Each resident of Ontario received a $200 payment from the concession proceeds, with the remaining funds placed in the province's general revenue fund-which can be spent on non-transportation needs. These funds were not dedicated to long-term investment or any specific capital projects.