Tollway Budget Dip a First

The Illinois State Toll Highway Authority has approved a $680 million budget for 2011 that marks the first drop in annual spending in the agency's history.

The budget is down $10.3 million, or 3.9%, from the 2010 budget. "This budget is designed so that the tollway will live within its means in 2011," authority executive director Kristi Lafleur said in a statement.

About $255 million of the budget is earmarked for maintenance and operations and $251 million for debt service. The remaining $174 million will be deposited into the renewal and replacement and improvement accounts as required by the tollway's statutory and trust indenture agreements.

Most of the budget will be funded from toll-generated revenue. The budget eliminates 106 vacant positions.

The authority has no new-money debt plans after wrapping up borrowing last year for its $6.1 billion rebuilding and expansion of the 286-mile Chicago-area toll highway system. Under the program, most of the system is being rebuilt and toll booths are being shifted to an open-road tolling system with tolls deducted from electronic devices.

Moody's Investors Service rates the authority's debt Aa3. Analysts said the rating reflect the tollway's status as an essential component of the Chicago area's transportation network, a long history of strong debt-service coverage and operating reserve levels, on-budget and on-schedule capital plan implementation, and increased revenue concentration in commercial traffic.

Fitch Ratings and Standard & Poor's rate the authority AA-minus. Fitch assigns a negative outlook, while Standard & Poor's affirmed its stable outlook.

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Transportation industry Illinois
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