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November 01 2019, 9:50am EDT- The Bond Buyer Friday announced the recipients of its annual Deal of the Year awards, marking the 18th year that it has recognized outstanding achievement in municipal finance.

This year, The Bond Buyer increased to 10 the number of categories of deals eligible for awards. The 2019 awards, which considered deals that closed between Oct. 1, 2018, and Sept. 30, 2019, includes three new additions: ESG/Green, Public-Private Partnership (P3), and Innovation, the last of which replaces the Non-Traditional category, which has been retired.

All 10 award winners are also finalists for the national Deal of the Year Award, which will be announced at a Dec. 4 ceremony held at the Conrad New York Downtown in lower Manhattan. The winner will also be revealed at BondBuyer.com later that evening.

“This year’s lineup reflects the full range of communities and public purposes this market comprises,” said Mike Scarchilli, Editor in Chief of The Bond Buyer. “The deals honored vary in size, complexity and structure -- as were the nominations we received, which were deeper and more diverse than ever.”

The Bond Buyer’s editorial board considered a range of factors when judging entries, including: creativity, the ability to pull a complex transaction together under challenging conditions, the ability to serve as a model for other financings, and the public purpose for which a deal’s proceeds were used.

For the ninth year, the Deal of the Year gala will also include the presentation of the Freda Johnson Award for Trailblazing Women in Public Finance. This year marks the fifth in which the organization is honoring two public finance professionals; one from the public sector and one from the private. The 2019 honorees are public finance professional Ritta McLaughlin, most recently the MSRB's Chief Education Officer, and Courtney Shea, owner and managing member of Columbia Capital Management LLC.

Here are the 2019 Deal of the Year award winners:

INNOVATIVE FINANCING
The first recipient of the Innovative award is the Cities of Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas’ nearly $1.2 billion taxable refinancing. DFW’s plan to discontinue issuing alternative minimum tax bonds and focus entirely on taxable debt resulted in the largest ever taxable airport deal and international orders totaling 39% of the deal size.

ESG/GREEN FINANCING
The inaugural winner in the ESG/Green category is the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s $545 million offering of Proposition C sales tax revenue bonds, which included $418.5 million second-party-verified green bonds. The transportation issuance was the second largest green deal in 2019, and the second largest green offering in California history.

PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP FINANCING
The first-ever honoree in the P3 category is the Virginia Small Business Financing Authority’s $262 million offering to fund its Fredericksburg Extension project. The deal, a partnership between the authority and 95 Express Lanes LLC, will help finance the development, design, construction, maintenance and operation of a 10-mile extension of the 95 Express Lanes.

HEALTH CARE FINANCING
The Health Care winner is the $6.5 billion CommonSpirit Health financing, the largest ever by a not-for-profit health system. The financing consisted of both a complex debt restructuring of nearly 50 series of debt and new money reimbursement. It generated the largest order book for a municipal not-for-profit transaction, with $40 billion in orders.

SMALL ISSUER FINANCING
The Vermont Municipal Bond Bank is the Small Issuer honoree for its $31.5 million issuance of Local Investment Bonds. The designation serves a two-fold purpose: raising awareness of the social and environmental impacts of the projects the Bond Bank funds, and making access to those investments more widely available through $1,000 denominations.

NORTHEAST REGION
The Battery Park City Authority claimed the Northeast crown for its $673 million offering for resilience projects in a neighborhood devastated by Superstorm Sandy in 2012. The complex financing saw the authority issue variable-rate demand bonds and SIFMA floating-rate notes for the first time. The transaction also received a second-party sustainability bond designation.

MIDWEST REGION
The Indianapolis Local Public Improvement Bond Bank is the winner in the Midwest for its $625 million issuance of bonds secured by lease rental payments for its Community Justice Campus. The design consolidates operations and replaces the current outdated, overcrowded, and unsafe facilities with three new, modernized buildings on a single campus.

SOUTHWEST REGION
The Southwest recipient is the City of Austin’s $464.5 million offering of taxable revenue bonds to fund its acquisition of a biomass-fired power plant for the city’s electric utility. The transaction created a clear path to eliminate an above-market power purchase agreement, a source of considerable cost and frustration for the city and Austin Energy.

SOUTHEAST REGION
The Solid Waste Authority of Palm Beach County, Florida wins the Southeast for a $347.6 million refunding utilizing "Cinderella bonds," which employ a crossover taxable and tax-exempt convertible refunding bond structure. This creative approach allowed the issuer to solve a problem it otherwise couldn’t have after the elimination of tax-exempt advance refunding.

FAR WEST REGION
The San Diego Association of Governments’ $331 million capital grants receipts revenue bond sale is the honoree in the Far West. The first public market, stand-alone securitization of a federal full-funding grant agreement in nearly 20 years, the deal accelerated the completion of the city’s $2.2 billion Mid-Coast Corridor Transit Project.

THE INDIANAPOLIS LOCAL PUBLIC IMPROVEMENT BOND BANK PLANS THE SALE OF AN ESTIMATED

$50 MILLION* BONDS, SERIES 2019F (STORMWATER PROJECT)

The Indianapolis Local Public Improvement Bond Bank (the “Bond Bank”) plans the sale of the following bonds (“Bonds”) for the Qualified Entity, the Marion County Stormwater Management District (the “District”).

Negotiated Sale scheduled for the week of September 30, 2019*

$50,000,000*  The Indianapolis Local Public Improvement Bond Bank Bonds, Series 2019F (Stormwater Project)

Proceeds of the Series 2019F Bonds will current refund the Indianapolis Local Public Improvement Bond Bank Notes, Series 2016 (Stormwater Project), outstanding in the aggregate principal amount of $50 million, and fund costs of certain additions and improvements to the District’s Stormwater System.

The Series 2019F Bonds will be secured by a pledge of net revenues of the District, which includes all revenues and income from the Stormwater System, including but not limited to charges, and user charges, but excluding revenue from ad valorem taxes, minus operation and maintenance expenses.

The Preliminary Official Statement and Investor Roadshow for the Bonds is expected to be available on September 25, 2019*. A rating presentation was given to Standard & Poor’s on September 18th, 2019 with a rating determinant forthcoming. 

Sycamore Advisors, LLC is serving as the Municipal Advisor to the Bond Bank for this issuance.

This notice does not constitute a recommendation or an offer or solicitation for the purchase or sale of any security or other financial instruments, including the Bonds, or to adopt any investment strategy. Any offer or solicitation with respect to the Bonds will be made solely by means of the final Official Statement relating to such Bonds which will describe the actual terms of such Bonds.

This notice does not constitute an obligation of the Bond Bank to issue bonds.

Prior continuing disclosure filings for the Bond Bank and the District can be accessed at the following link:

https://emma.msrb.org/IssuerHomePage/Issuer?id=48F81DF5F4D01CA5E053151ED20A6930

Indianapolis receives fifth positive financial rating from national agency

Kroll Bond Rating Agency awards highest rating to the city, citing strong local economy

INDIANAPOLIS – Today, the office of Mayor Joe Hogsett announced that Indianapolis has received yet another General Obligation rating upgrade from the Kroll Bond Rating Agency (KBRA).  This is the second upgrade the City has received from KBRA within the last year, and the fifth positive rating action taken by a national agency since October of 2018. 

KBRA cited several trends in issuing the rating, noting the City’s two years of balanced budgets, a steady increase in unassigned fund balances, and good liquidity. Additionally, the rating agency pointed to the strength of the local economy, the continued residential and commercial development, as well as the expansion of the technology sector as proof that Indianapolis’ financial position continues to demonstrate an upward trajectory.

This announcement comes as the City-County Council is debating the 2020 budget, the third balanced budget submitted to the legislative body by the Hogsett administration.  After nearly a decade of imbalanced budgets, Mayor Hogsett and City-County Councillors have prioritized responsible fiscal policies aimed at right-sizing city government and making strategic investments in critical city services.  

“Bipartisan leadership and thoughtful fiscal policies have caused national agencies to take note of Indianapolis,” said Mayor Hogsett.  “We are committed to strengthening our local economy and investing in our neighborhoods, while being good stewards of taxpayer dollars. This combination of thoughtful spending and meaningful investments are helping to attract jobs and residents, ensuring Indianapolis is on sound financial footing.”

In October of 2018, Kroll upgraded the City’s General Obligation rating to AA+ stable. In November 2018, Moody’s affirmed the City’s Aaa rating and upgraded the municipality’s financial outlook to stable. In December 2018, S&P upgraded our outlook to AA+ Stable and in February of 2019 Fitch affirmed a AAA stable rating for the city.

KBRA is a full-service credit rating agency registered within the U.S Securities and Exchange Commission.  To learn more, click here.

Taylor Schaffer
Deputy Chief of Staff - Communications
Office of Mayor Joe Hogsett – City of Indianapolis

taylor.schaffer@indy.gov

P: (317) 327-2793  C: (317) 694-0463
www.indy.gov