Wouldn’t it be easier to sell the state?

From the Asbury Park Press:

New bill would allow lease of toll roads

The state may raise as much as $10 billion by leasing its toll roads, said state Sen. Raymond Lesniak, who plans to introduce a bill next month authorizing such a deal.

Lesniak said that estimate could vary by as much as $2 billion in either direction depending on issues such as required maintenance costs and the ability granted to any leaseholder to raise tolls to pay for growing expenses.

“That’s a rough estimate,” Lesniak said in an interview Wednesday. “We could use this capital as part of any long range plan.”

Gov. Corzine’s administration is studying the sale of assets such as the New Jersey Turnpike as part of a plan to reduce the state’s $30 billion debt and trim the highest-in-the-nation property taxes. Lesniak’s bill would allow the state to take bids from private companies for asset sales or leases, and require that the Legislature approve any firm selected.

Corzine, a Democrat and former chief executive officer of Goldman, Sachs & Co., said his administration wasn’t involved in drafting the Lesniak bill. The state hired UBS AG in September to make recommendations on possible asset sales; State Treasurer Bradley Abelow said yesterday the state will take some action toward an asset sale or lease within the next six months.

“We will not have the resources to fund the serious rebate program many of us want to fund unless there is debt reduction in the form of monetization,” Corzine told reporters Dec. 19. “It’s not rocket science how we are going to generate those resources.”

Lesniak’s legislation would allow the state treasurer to consider proposals from private companies to bid for a 75-year lease of the Turnpike, the Garden State Parkway and the Atlantic City Expressway, according to a draft version.

To lure bidders, Lesniak’s bill would let a private operator increase tolls each year. For cars, the toll rise could be no more than the rate of U.S. inflation; for trucks, it could be no more than the increase in U.S. gross domestic product.