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Tollway CFO: First-quarter revenues near budget; Tri-State capital spending ahead of forecast
Summary
At a Finance and Audit Committee meeting, Illinois State Toll Highway Authority CFO Kathy Williams reported preliminary, unaudited first-quarter 2025 results showing revenues roughly on budget, lower operating costs, and higher-than-expected capital spending on the Tri-State Tollway.
At a Finance and Audit Committee meeting of the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority, Chief Financial Officer Kathy Williams presented preliminary, unaudited first-quarter 2025 budget-to-actual results, saying revenues were roughly in line with the budget while capital spending on Tri-State Tollway work exceeded forecasts.
Williams said, "For the most part, it's pretty much an uneventful quarter," and that total revenues were about $2.3 million higher than budget, driven mainly by passenger-vehicle (PC) toll revenue and higher short-term investment income.
The nut of the committee discussion was the mix of revenue and timing of capital work. Williams reported operating expenditures were below budget by about $4.0 million (3.7%), and debt service transfers were below budget by about $9.0 million (6.5%), the latter reflecting later-than-anticipated bond issuance and interest earnings that reduced required transfers.
Capital spending was the primary variance. Total capital expenditures were about $21.0 million (13.9%) above budget, led by accelerated work on the Central Tri-State project, including earlier-than-expected construction activity at the I‑290/I‑88 interchange and roadway widening projects between Saint Charles Road and North Avenue. Williams said the Tri-State first-quarter expenditures were roughly $32.8 million more than forecasted, and system-wide projects were slightly below budget because some facility and lighting repairs have been delayed.
On traffic trends, Williams said commercial-vehicle revenue was up about 3.8% year over year and about 21% above 2019 levels. Committee members asked whether the commercial revenue increase reflected higher rates or higher traffic; Williams and staff said the revenue increase was driven in part by a 5.65% rate increase for commercial vehicles this year and by changes in traffic mix since the pandemic.
Directors also asked about apparent differences between transaction counts and revenue. Williams and staff said the mix of vehicle classes, the introduction of new plazas with different tolling rates, and changes in payment methods (fewer cash payments compared with 2019) can cause transactions to rise while revenue remains near or slightly below pre-pandemic totals. Staff said they would provide a more detailed explanation of the revenue/transaction mix.
The presentation was informational; the committee took no formal action approving budget changes. Committee members asked staff to continue monitoring timing and cash-pay options for customers, and staff described a planned retail payment solution to broaden cash payment locations and enable customers to add funds to iPass accounts.
The committee approved placement of related finance items on the board agenda for May.
