Judge Dismisses Lawsuit To Block Toll Hikes
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A Cook County judge has rejected an anti-tax advocate's bid to block the nearly 90 percent rate hike scheduled to go into effect on the Illinois Tollway system next year.
Judge Rita Novak dismissed a lawsuit challenging the Illinois Toll Highway Authority's right to raise tolls.
Jim Tobin, president of Taxpayers United of America, filed the lawsuit in September. He said he's lost a battle but not his war to eliminate the toll hike and the entire state tollway system.
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Tobin said the Illinois Toll Highway Authority, created in the 1950s, should not exist at all anymore, much less still collecting tolls.
"When they passed the Tollway bill in 1953, they promised 'free in '73.' It was supposed to be free in 1973," Tobin said.
The suit claimed the Toll Authority violated state law by failing to convert the state's tollways to freeways decades ago, after the original bonds to fund construction were paid off.
Taxpayers United has 30 days to either file an amended complaint or appeal Novak's ruling, which essentially upholds the 87.5 percent toll hike set to take effect on Jan. 1.
Tobin said he'll continue his fight to eliminate the Tollway system.
