Report says privatizing highways can cost federal treasury
Source: By MAUREEN GROPPE, Gannett News Service, July 24, 2008
The federal government can lose millions of dollars in tax revenues from privatized transportation projects such as Indiana's leasing of its toll road, according to the Government Accountability Office.
Because private-sector firms, unlike public toll authorities, pay federal income tax, they can deduct depreciation on assets for which they have "effective ownership," the GAO told a Senate panel looking at the issue of public-private highway partnerships.