2nd Reading of An Ordinance to Authorize Event Center Debt

The ordinance  authorizing the issuance of sales tax revenue bonds to pay the costs to design, construct, equip, and furnish the event center and associated site improvements and the cost of issuance of the bonds is up for second reading and passage tonight at the City Council meeting.

It is a rather large and complex ordinance in that it is a sizable debt authorization for a venue that has been contemplated and controversial for over a decade. The ordinance addresses two areas. First, the ordinance will address all the debt amendments that have been authorized since 1988 into this one document. Second, the ordinance authorizes the issuance of Series 2012 bonds and spells out the most important details relating to the new sizable debt:

• The bonds may be issued as tax exempt bonds, taxable bonds, or any combination thereof.
• The overall true interest cost shall not exceed 4.75% issued on a tax exempt basis or 6.50% issues on a taxable basis.
• The maturity date shall be no later than November 15, 2037. 

Once the Council acts, the bid process shall begin. We should know in January what kind of bonds will be issued, what the true interest cost will be and what the maturity date will be. I know one thing that is probably a sure bet. Before this construction debt is paid off, every council member who authorizes this debt will be long gone too.