The Illinois State Toll Highway Authority reported an operating surplus of $498.3 million for 2024 and a net position of about $4.7 billion, Controller Patty Ward told the Tollway Finance Committee on a routine agenda item.

Ward summarized the Tollway’s two annual financial reports — the GAAP financial statements prepared under generally accepted accounting principles and the agency-produced Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (ACFAR) — and said the Tollway submitted the ACFAR to the Government Finance Officers Association for consideration for its certificate of achievement.

The numbers show modest revenue growth and continued investment in capital projects. Total revenue rose 4.4% year over year to roughly $1.60 billion; toll revenue was about $1.43 billion in 2024 compared with $1.38 billion in 2023. Evasion-recovery revenue from invoiced missed tolls totaled about $144.2 million in 2024, up roughly $15 million from the prior year. Operating expenses were about $423.7 million, an increase of roughly 1.4%, primarily driven by salary and wage adjustments under union agreements.

Ward also summarized the Tollway’s long-term financial position: total assets of about $14.9 billion, of which roughly $12.3 billion are capital assets; total liabilities of about $10.2 billion; and accumulated net position of about $4.7 billion.

The controller noted recent debt-management activity. Since 2013 the Tollway has executed about $2.5 billion in refundings that achieved an estimated present-value savings of about $355 million; a 2024 refunding of about $874 million produced roughly $152 million in present-value debt-service savings, Ward said.

Committee members asked for context on the increase in evasion-recovery revenue. Chair Perinar asked whether changes in collection practices drove the increase. Ward replied that the Tollway did not change the method used between 2023 and 2024, and that the year-over-year difference reflected timing of invoicing and payments and refinements to the allowance for uncollectible accounts as the agency built more collection history. "I can answer any questions if you have any," Ward said after her presentation.

Ward told the committee there were no financial audit findings for 2023 or 2024, a first in a long time, and that the Tollway has received the Government Finance Officers Association certificate for 28 consecutive years.

The report closed with the controller inviting questions; the committee had none that led to further formal action during the session.

Less-critical details included the accounting differences used for internal quarterly reporting under the Tollway’s trust indenture versus GAAP reporting (for example, treatment of capital assets, long-term fiber-optic revenue recognition and bond principal repayment).