New Evansville Arena Bonds Sold
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THE CITY-COUNTY OBSERVER An Online Community Newspaper Dedicated To Serving The Citizens of Posey, Vanderburgh, and Warrick Counties APRIL 29, 2010 VOLUME III, ISSUE 15 New Evansville Arena Bonds Sold Out EVANSVILLE, IN The bonds will sup- – The sale of bonds to port the development finance the new Evans- of the new $127 mil- ville Arena is complete. lion arena in downtown Interest rates and the Evansville. resulting lease payments The 290,000 square- are at levels close to es- foot Evansville Arena timates made before the will be the region’s cen- sale. ter for sports and enter- “The receptiveness of tainment, designed to the financial markets to host basketball, hockey, our offering shows that concerts, exhibitions the care we took in plan- and shows for audiences ning our project created as large as 11,000. It will a solid financial pack- open in late 2011. The age,” said Mayor Jona- new Evansville Arena than Weinzapfel. “We will work in conjunction are particularly gratified by the individual investors who with The Centre and other downtown attractions to cre- chose to support our City’s future.” ate a vibrant atmosphere for sports fans, music lovers and Arena Project Director John J. Kish said the compos- conventioneers. ite net interest rate on the entire package of bonds was Approximately $95 million of the bond sale proceeds approximately 4.5%, which is about ¼ percentage point will be used for arena construction, with the remainder higher than estimates made earlier this year. Bond interest used for interest payments during the construction period, rates have been rising slowly since the end of 2009. a debt-service reserve fund, and costs of issuance. At pres- Evansville City Controller Jenny Collins said the City’s ent, construction teams are working on concrete for the financial advisers and managers worked diligently to ex- main concourse with structural steel work set to begin in ecute a successful sale. “We’re pleased with how well our mid-May. team delivered,” she said. The official closing of the trans- Beginning in 2013, the Evansville Redevelopment Au- actions is expected to occur before the end of May. thority will repay the bond investors slightly more than $8 The total value of the bonds sold was $122.4 million in million a year, drawing from the Food and Beverage Tax a combination of short-term, tax-exempt bonds and long- as well as New Evansville Arena Project revenue from the term debt, including taxable Build America Bonds. The downtown Tax Increment Finance district (TIF). No prop- Build America Bond program, created by the American erty tax revenue will be utilized. In addition, the City plans Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, brings a direct to use a portion of gaming revenues to repay the bonds. federal rebate to the Evansville Redevelopment Authority continued on page A-2 for 35% of the interest paid to investors in the bonds. PAGE A-2 APRIL 29, 2010 ~ WWW.CITY-COUNTYOBSERVER.COM NEWS Arena Bonds...continued from page A-1 Bond rating agencies judged these sources to be comfort- Corp. and Fifth Third Securities also participating. The City’s ably above the amount needed to service the debt. financial adviser for the arena project is London Witte Group. Standard & Poor’s Ratings Service gave the bond package an “A” grade and Moody’s Investors Service applied its “A1” rating. The positive evaluation relied on the City’s pledging of IS IT TRUE... the several categories of tax revenues, backed up by the City’s share of the County Option Income Tax (COIT) for bond pay- ments. “The City Council’s agreement to use COIT as a guarantee was cited by the ratings services as enhancing the quality of these bonds,” Kish said. “The other revenues pledged by the City are more than sufficient to cover the payments, but more security meant a better rating and that meant lower debt pay- ments.” While the net composite interest rate was approximately 4.5%, rates for individual issues of bonds within the package ranged from 2.5% to 7.2% (before the federal rebate is ap- plied), depending on their size, term and tax status. The Evansville-based investment firm of Hilliard Lyons we are still wondering about the status of the served as senior manager for the offering, with City Securities McCurdy Condo Project? WWW.CITY-COUNTYOBSERVER.COM ~ APRIL 29, 2010 PAGE A-3 BUDGet BUSteRS At WORK FOR YOU! Your Republican Vanderburgh County Council Re-elect Russ Lloyd Jim Raben Tom Shelter, Jr. Real Accomplishments: • 2009 - 2010 Enact county budget cuts of $300,000 • 2009 - 2010 Hold county property tax rate level, below maximum levy • 2009 Hiring freeze for county government • Promote efficiency in government • Transparent, open and accessible council meetings Paid for by GOP Council Victory Committee, Russell Lloyd Jr., Chairman. PAGE A-4 APRIL 29, 2010 ~ WWW.CITY-COUNTYOBSERVER.COM NEWS New School Vaccine Requirements Free clinics offered for children attending Vanderburgh County Schools With Indiana law now requiring additional vaccines for guardian and all shot records. Shot records may be ob- students entering sixth through twelfth grade, the Van- tained by calling the school the child currently attends or derburgh County Health Department will be offering free their healthcare provider. Those receiving vaccine should school vaccination clinics before vaccines are mandated wear short sleeves or loose fitting garments to facilitate this fall, for the 2010-2011 school year. ease of vaccination. A snack or light meal is suggested New requirements include a Tdap (tetanus, diphtheria beforehand. and whooping cough) vaccine given after the tenth birth- Parents are encouraged to get their children vaccinated day, two chickenpox vaccines (or written date of the dis- NOW to avoid the rush before school starts in August. ease) and a meningitis vaccine. Children may also receive vaccines at their healthcare pro- According to Health Officer, Ray Nicholson, MD, vider or at the health department at 420 Mulberry Street “While children are already required to be vaccinated by appointment by calling 435-5997 or on a walk-in basis against diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus and chick- on Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 enpox, the second vaccination is a booster shot for older p.m. or Tuesday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. children.” More information can be found at our website: “van- The meningitis shot was previously recommended, but derburghgov.org/health” and click on the blue is now required. t “ Back to School Immunizations” button. Free vaccina- tion clinics will be held Wednesday, May 5 from 3:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. It’s delightful... It’s delicious... and Thursday, Celeb It’s rat May 6 from 3:00 ing p.m. – 7:00 p.m. at Central High 24 y School Gymnasi- e um located at 5400 ars First Avenue, for students who at- tend Vanderburgh for reservations, call County Schools (812) 428 3004 in the fifth, sixth, OPEN seventh, eighth, Mon-Fri: 11am-10pm ninth, tenth and Catering for all occassions Saturday: 4pm-10pm Sunday - closed eleventh grade. Lunch specials daily Notification is 607 N. Main St. being sent home Full bar service Evansville, IN with students. (812) 428-3004 Students will need major credit cards accepted to be accompa- Click here to see full menu! nied by parent or dine in or take out WWW.CITY-COUNTYOBSERVER.COM ~ APRIL 29, 2010 PAGE A-5 NEWS City to Save Nearly ½ Million on Park ELECT A Bond Refinance WESTSIDE Mayor Jonathan Weinzapfel will ask Evansville City Council on Monday for permission to refinance the 2001 Park District Bonds. The bonds will have a net interest NATIVE rate of 3.3698%, which means a net present value savings for the City and Parks Department of $423,086. “Our decision to refinance the Park Bonds represents a significant savings to taxpayers. This is another way in PICK RICK which the City is looking for more effective and efficient ways to save money and utilize tax dollars in the most meaningful way possible,” said Mayor Jonathan Weinza- RINEY! pfel. Refinancing will lower the principal and interest pay- ments over the life of the bond, but it will not extend the DeMoCRat length of time to pay off the bond which comes due in 2021. The City was able to obtain a low interest rate on the CaNDiDate refinanced bonds due to a positive bond rating from Stan- foR peRRy dard & Poor’s (AA-) and the slow economy. The original $12.4 million in bonds were issued in 2001 toWNship for the acquisition, construction and equipping of Swonder Ice Arena. The bond provided the City with the opportu- tRUstee nity to refinance in 2010 and proposals were solicited from a number of underwriters. Through a competitive bidding *Serve the people as a full-time trustee. process, City Securities was selected. *Retired firefighter. *A U.S. Navy Vietnam Veteran *Caring and compassionate. First Amendment to *Give the citizens of our community a the U.S. Constitution helping hand during difficult times. *Not a career politician, and have never “Congress shall make no law respecting been elected to a public office. an establishment of religion, or *Deeply involved in social and athletic activities on the Westside. prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or *Will Not seek a pay Raise abridging the freedom of speech, or of the While iN offiCe. press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Pick Rick on May 4th Government for a redress of grievances.” Paid for by the Committee to Elect Rick Riney Perry Township Trustee.