Title
Proposed City of Gainesville Revenue Note, Series 2011 (NB)
This item involves a request for the City Commission to approve the issuance of debt to fund a portion of the costs associated with renovation/reconstruction of the Gainesville Police Department Headquarters and arsenic remediation at Depot Park.
Explanation
In June 2011,as part of the FY11 - FY15 Capital Improvement Plan update, the City Commission authorized borrowing for capital projects of up to $4 million. Two projects have been identified which are financially prudent to consider for funding in part through the issuance of debt - the renovation /reconstruction of the GPD Headquarters and arsenic remediation at Depot Park.
As presented during the CIP discussion, cost estimates for the GPD Headquarters renovation /reconstruction are projected to exceed monies appropriated for the project by at least $4 million. During the meeting of November 3, 2011, the City Commission approved the funding of Phase I of the Depot Arsenic remediation, using approximately $1.3 million in Stormwater Management Utility Fund monies. This leaves a requirement of approximately $1.6 million for Phase 2 of the project. Therefore on a combined basis the funding gap on these two projects is $5.6 million.
Municipal bond market rates are near historic lows. If the City issues debt through a bank loan prior to December 31, 2011 and maintains our total debt issuance for the calendar year below $10 million we can further take advantage of bank-qualified loan rates. Therefore staff is recommending a debt issuance of $3.7 million to assist in funding these projects. Together with the recently completed $6.2 million Series 2011 Revenue Refunding Note, our total issuance for calendar year 2011 will be within the $10 million cap at $9.9 million.
The remaining funds necessary to complete the projects would come from the City's General Fund fund balance. The City's independent FY11 financial audit will not be comp...
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