North Carolina approves bonds for Charlotte, Asheville airports
The North Carolina Local Government Commission approved more than
At its meeting Tuesday, the commission approved the city of Charlotte’s request to issue up to
Proceeds will finance improvements at the airport, which include a major terminal, and refund an outstanding bond issue. Several projects are under way or about to begin construction.
The airport plans to price
BofA Securities is senior manager, according to an online investor presentation; JPMorgan (JPM), PNC Capital Markets (PNC) and Ramirez & Co. are co-managers.
DEC Associates and Frasca & Associates are financial advisors;
Moody's Investors Service (MCO) affirmed its Aa3 rating ahead of the deal and Fitch Ratings affirmed its
The city was also granted approval to sell
The Local Government Commission is chaired by state Treasurer
The commission also approved the Greater Asheville Regional Airport Authority’s request to issue up to
The authority also plans to make improvements to the existing terminal building and supporting infrastructure, build a centralized energy plant, and a new air traffic control tower. The bonds are expected to be offered for sale on
Raymond James & Associates will be lead underwriter, according to Local Government Commission documents.
Additionally, the commission approved almost
The county has been approved to issue
The county’s Water and Sewer Authority also got approval to sell
The commission also approved several other financing requests.
At its previous meeting on
It voted to commit the towns of
All of these entities are under the commission's financial control.
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However, he said not all areas are sharing today in this prosperity.
“It also is a state where some geographic regions face the stress of depopulation, loss of businesses and declining tax bases that make it difficult for local governments to upgrade or replace deteriorating infrastructure and still provide other basic services," he said. "Failing water and sewer systems pose financial, environmental and public health risks to a community.”
Under the resolutions, the municipalities agreed to conduct an asset assessment and rate study and participate in a training and educational program. They also are required to develop short- and long-term action plans for infrastructure repair, maintenance and management; continuing education of the governing board and system operating staff; and long-term financial management. As distressed units, they may apply for Viable Utility Reserve funding to help pay for construction needs identified in their short- and long-term action plans.
The Local Government Commission also passed resolutions to designate an additional seven counties, 15 towns and one sanitary district as distressed local government units under VUR legislation.
The action falls under a law that went into effect in 2020. The legislation created a Viable Utility Reserve fund to improve and sustain water and wastewater systems, and required the LGC and State Water Infrastructure Authority to develop criteria to identify distressed units.
“People have a right to clean, accessible and affordable water and sewer services. We are doing our best to assist these local governments, and this latest action by the LGC to identify local governments with distressed water and wastewater systems under the VUR legislation is one more example of that. But the list is long and getting longer,” Folwell said.
On Thursday, the state will be selling
Wells Fargo Securities will price the tax-exempt deal, which is rated Aa1 by Moody’s Investors Service and AA-plus by S&P Global Ratings and Fitch Ratings. All three rating agencies have a stable outlook on the credit.
BofA Securities, Barclays Capital, Citigroup (C), JPMorgan (JPM) and Loop Capital Markets will be co-managers. The financial advisor is Masterson Advisors, while the bond counsel is
The bonds are limited obligations of the state, which is rated triple-A by Moody's, S&P and Fitch, and are payable from funds from the state Highway Trust Fund, subject to appropriation by the legislature.
Proceeds will finance transportation projects across the state and fund the debt service reserve fund.
The bonds are being issued under the state Capital Facilities Finance Act, which states the total amount of Build NC bonds can't exceed
Bond can only be issued for transportation projects approved under the State Transportation Improvement Program.
There have been