Story Created:
Feb 27, 2007 at 4:23 PM EDT
Story Updated:
Apr 10, 2007 at 12:56 PM EDT
(WSBT) Indiana received in its bank account almost $4 billion from the lease of the Toll Road. And that money is helping people in places you’ve probably never heard of.
“They see it on the map, they say, ‘What is that? What is that?’” Dick Smith told WSBT News.
Smith is talking about the town of Indian Village, where he’s lived since 1950. Never heard of it? The town is just north of Notre Dame, and just south of the Toll Road.
Only about 150 people live in Indian Village. But it received $17,000 from the Toll Road lease. It might surprise you to know Smith doesn’t think that’s a good thing.
“That’s good now, because all the money’s coming in, everybody’s happy about it,” he said. “But it’s the long-range thing that bothers me.”
Lease supporters argue the long-range benefit is added to daily. The lease money will pay for road projects around the state, like improving U.S. 31 from South Bend to Indianapolis.
And the dollar figure Indiana earns from the lease is growing. You can track it on the Indiana Treasurer’s Office website. So far the state has earned about $120 million in interest.
WSBT.com Extra: Click here for the latest Toll Road interest tally
Counties the Toll Road runs through received an extra $40 million. In St. Joseph County that money is helping many local governments -- from almost $13 million for South Bend, to just over $17,000 for tiny Indian Village.
But some argue money isn’t everything, especially Dick Smith.
“You can even hear the Toll Road as we’re standing here right now,” he told WSBT News. “I used to look at it and be proud because it was part of Indiana; now it’s part of Australia and Spain.”
The more than $20 million that went directly to St. Joseph County has also been earning interest at a rate of about $1 million a year.
