Mayor Suggests Leasing Tunnel Tolls In Attempt to Reduce Detroit's Deficit

Detroit Mayor Ken Cockrel Jr. recently proposed that the city lease its toll revenue from the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel to a private contractor for an upfront payment of possibly $100 million to help dent a city budget deficit.

"That's a projection of what we might be able to get from an operator,"

Detroit has a budget deficit of $300 million for the fiscal year that ends June 30 and unknown shortfalls going forward, Neely said.

The Detroit City Council would have to approve a lease arrangement, which Cockrel proposed Jan. 30 in a budget restructuring plan. He also suggested that the city entertain a similar deal for its parking and lighting systems.

The city's former mayor, Kwame Kilpatrick, convicted last year in a sex and e-mail scandal, tried to persuade the council to sell its half of the tunnel outright to the city of Windsor, Ontario. The council rejected that idea, which Kilpatrick estimated could have generated $65 million in cash to help wipe out deficits.