Indiana governor Mitch Daniels hosted a mortgage burning today... the mortgages of ten state facilities, as the state has retired the debt for all of those buildings early. They include the Government Center South and North Buildings adjacent to the Statehouse in Indianapolis. Daniels says Indiana has reduced its debt by more than half in eight years, placing the Hoosier state in the position of having the third lowest debt per capita for state governments, in stark contrast, the governor's office says, to other states struggling with their fiscal conditions. Daniels says revenue collections from a tax amnesty program, leasing of the toll road, and outsourcing things like food service and printing and mail services for state employees helped make it possible to pay off construction-related bonds.

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