Louisiana bond fee approves $775 million refunding

Metropolis of Baton Rouge

The Louisiana State Bond Fee accredited East Baton Rouge Sewerage Fee’s $775 million refunding and tender plan Thursday. 

The sewerage fee’s refunding will impression Collection 2020A and Collection 2020B taxable Louisiana Group Growth Authority bonds. 

The sewerage fee will exchange the taxable bonds with tax-exempt bonds to generate financial savings. Financial savings will rely upon participation of present bondholders, Bond Fee Assistant Director Conner Berthelot stated in a memo.

The Collection 2020A and Collection 2020B bonds mature in 2048 and 2039, respectively. The refunding bonds could have the identical maturities. 

The East Baton Rouge Sewerage Fee is contemplating advance refunding “a portion of the bonds (not tendered) by inserting proceeds of the proposed issuance into escrow, which will likely be used to pay bondholders by means of maturity,” Berthelot stated.

BofA Securities will function underwriter on the transactions. Butler Snow LLP is the bond counsel.  

In different enterprise Thursday, the bond fee accredited the state creating a plan to transform or refund Collection 2022A gasoline and fuels tax second lien income refunding bonds.

The present bonds are variable charge with the rate of interest set every day at 70% of SOFR plus 50 foundation factors. They’re callable Nov. 1 and topic to necessary tender on Could 1, 2026. They mature in 2043. $117 million is excellent.

For the refunding or conversion, the state is utilizing PRAG as municipal advisor and Foley & Judell as bond counsel. 

The state plans to pick a financial institution and undertake a preliminary decision on the Oct. 16 bond fee assembly and undertake the ultimate decision on the Nov. 20 assembly.