Sections 1 and 2 (16A.967) allow the bond sale authorization and proceeds for Phase 2 of the Lewis and Clark Regional Water System project to be used for Phase 3 of the project. Phase 3 includes extending the system from Lincoln-Pipestone to Worthington, constructing a reservoir in Nobles County, constructing a meter building in Worthington, and acquiring a supervisory control and data acquisition system. The Phase 2 authorization, contained in the bonding bill that was passed in the 2015 Special Session, was $19 million, but only $11.79 million has been issued under that authorization. The bond proceeds are appropriated to the Public Facilities Authority to administer grants to the Lewis and Clark Regional Water Systems, Inc.
Sections 3 and 4 (462A.37) authorize the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency to sell an additional $20 million in housing infrastructure bonds that are payable with an appropriation from the state, up to specified limits. This authorization is an increase over amounts authorized in 2014 ($80 million) and 2015 ($10 million).
The specified limits on the state’s appropriations for debt service are not increased in this bill; these limits remain at $6.4 million annually for the 2014 authorization and $800,000 annually for the 2015 authorization.
The current annual appropriation for bonds sold under the current authorizations are $5.4 million (on the $80 million authorization) and $445,000 (on the $10 million authorization). This is summarized in the following table:
Authorization |
Bonds Authorized |
Statutory Cap on State's Contribution toward Debt Service |
Current Annual Payment by State for Debt Service |
Additional Bond Authorizations in this Bill |
Expected Debt Service Payments After Increasing the Authorization |
§462A.37, Subd. 2a (2014) |
$80 million |
$6.4 million |
$5.4 million |
$17 million |
TBD |
§462A.37, Subd. 2b (2015) |
$10 million |
$800,000 |
$445,000 |
$3 million |
TBD |
|