Private Activity Bond Advisory Committee 2011 Interim Report

Transcription

1 ELIZABETH A. PEARCE UNCLAIMED PROPERTY DIVISION STATE TREASURER TEL: (802) RETIREMENT DIVISION ACCOUNTING DIVISION TEL: (802) TEL: (802) FAX: (802) FAX: (802) STATE OF VERMONT OFFICE OF THE STATE TREASURER TO: FROM: Governor Peter Shumlin Members of the General Assembly Beth Pearce, State Treasurer DATE: December 1, 2011 RE: Private Activity Bond Advisory Committee 2011 Interim Report Pursuant to Executive Order No , the purpose of this memorandum is to file a report with the Governor and Legislature regarding the progress to date of the Private Activity Bond Advisory Committee. Given the compressed timeframe between the Committee s formation and the December 1 deadline, the Committee proposes to submit its recommendation regarding private activity bond (PAB) allocation prior to the Emergency Board meeting in mid-january. The five (5) Committee members are: Beth Pearce, State Treasurer, Chair Jeb Spaulding, Secretary of Administration Lawrence Miller, Secretary of Commerce and Community Development Susan Sam Andersen, Governor s Appointee Doug Hoffer, Governor s Appointee The Committee held its inaugural meeting on November 21, discussed PABs generally, identified several known or possible projects that could be suitable for PAB financing, and strategized ways to meet the requirements of the Executive Order, in particular expanding statewide awareness of PABs as a resource to provide tax exempt financing to assist the Vermont economy and promote job growth. The Committee has also communicated with the four (4) primary users of Vermont s PAB volume cap allocation Vermont Student Assistance Corporation (VSAC), Vermont Housing Finance Agency (VHFA), Vermont Economic Development Authority (VEDA) and the Vermont Municipal Bond Bank (VMBB) to determine their proposed reallocations of 2011 PAB volume cap, and allocations of 2012 volume cap. However, the Committee has not yet made its recommendation with respect to these allocations. 109 STATE STREET MONTPELIER, VERMONT TREASURER: (802) TOLL-FREE (IN VT ONLY): FAX: (802)

2 PRIVATE ACTIVITY BOND ADVISORY COMMITTEE 2011 INTERIM REPORT PAGE 2 Finally, pursuant to the Executive Order, the Committee has scheduled a public hearing prior to submission of its recommendation. This hearing is scheduled for Wednesday, December 14, at 1:30 p.m. in the Pavilion Building Auditorium in Montpelier. This meeting has been warned with the Department of Libraries, and an invitation has been distributed via to over fifty (50) interested parties throughout Vermont, including members of the General Assembly, numerous State agencies, and representatives of VSAC, VHFA, VEDA, the Bond Bank, and all twelve (12) Regional Development Associations and eleven (11) Regional Planning Commissions. The invitation also requested that recipients forward the invitation to other interested parties they might be aware of. Copies of the invitation, the list of recipients, and the Committee s list of known and potential PAB-financed projects to date, and proposed allocations and reallocations received from Vermont s current PAB issuers are included as attachments to this report. Please feel free to contact me with any questions. Attachments: 1. Invitation to Private Activity Bond Public Hearing 2. List of Public Hearing Invitees 3. List of Known or Possible Projects 4. Current Issuers Proposed PAB Volume Cap 2011 Reallocations and 2012 Allocations

3 Wisloski, Stephen From: Sent: To: Subject: Attachments: Importance: Pearce, Beth Wednesday, November 30, :03 PM Beatty, David; Bothfeld, Diane; Bradley, Jo; Cole, Chris; Emmons, Rep. Alice; Fitch, Larry; Vincent Illuzzi; Marshall, Karen; Miller, Lawrence; Minter, Sue; Pearce, Beth; Perchlik, Andrew; Royar, Kim; Sandretto, Tom; Spaulding, Jeb; Wisloski, Stephen Public Hearing Regarding Private Activity Bonds - Wednesday, December 14 at 1:30 p.m. in Montpelier Executive_Order_No._14-11_re_Private_Activity_Bond_Advisory_Committee.pdf; IRS_Private_Activity_Bonds.pdf; Vermont_PABAC_Contacts_and_Project_List_ xlsx High Governor Shumlin recently signed Executive Order No , which created the Private Activity Bond Advisory Committee (PABAC). The Governor seeks to develop an advisory process that increases awareness of private activity bond capacity to prospective issuers, encourages new and creative uses of this financing mechanism, promotes job creation in Vermont, and otherwise maximizes the economic benefits of private activity bonding. To that end, the PABAC is charged with: 1. Surveying the expected need for private activity bonds (PABs) throughout Vermont; 2. Developing guidelines for allocation of PAB capacity; and 3. Making an annual recommendation to the Emergency Board on the allocation of the State s PAB volume cap. The PABAC must also file an annual report with the Governor and Legislature. Prior to submitting its recommendation, the PABAC must hold a public hearing. This hearing has been scheduled for Wednesday, December 14, 2011 at 1:30 p.m. in the Pavilion Building Auditorium, 109 State Street, Montpelier. You received this e mail because you were identified as a potentially interested party regarding the use of PABs in Vermont. Please feel free to forward this e mail along to any other people or organizations you believe would be interested in attending. Attached for your information are the Executive Order, an IRS brochure on Private Activity Bonds, and an Excel workbook containing the recipients of this e mail, a list of qualified projects that PABs may be eligible to finance, and descriptions of known or potential projects. 1

4 Should you have any questions, please e mail or call me or my Deputy, Steve Wisloski, at stephen.wisloski@state.vt.us or Kind Regards, Beth

5 State of Vermont Private Activity Bond Advisory Committee List of Interest Parties as of November 30, 2011 First Last Name Name Organization E Mail Phone Sam Andersen Committee Member, Governor's Appointee cvedcevp@sover.net Sen. Tim Ashe State Senator, Chittenden District timashe@burlingtontelecom.net Charles Baker Chittenden County Regional Planning Commission cbaker@ccrpcvt.org David Beatty Department of Finance and Management david.beatty@state.vt.us Mark Blucher Rutland Regional Planning Commission mblucher@rutlandrpc.org Diane Bothfeld Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets diane.bothfeld@state.vt.us Rep. Bill Botzow State Representative, Bennington 1 District bbotzow@leg.state.vt.us Jo Bradley Vermont Economic Development Authority (VEDA) jbradley@veda.org Rep. Cynthia Browning State Representative, Bennington 5 District cbrowning@leg.state.vt.us Chris Campany Windham Regional Commission ccampany@sover.net Sarah Carpenter Vermont Housing Finance Agency (VHFA) scarpenter@vhfa.org Sen. Bill Carris State Senator, Rutland District bcarris@leg.state.vt.us Andrea Cohen Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility andreac@vbsr.org Chris Cole Agency of Transportation chris.cole@state.vt.us Catherine Dimitruk Northwest Regional Planning Commission cdimitruk@nrpcvt.com Rep. Alice Emmons State Representative, Windsor 1 2 District aemmons@leg.state.vt.us Larry Fitch Agency of Natural Resources larry.fitch@state.vt.us Bob Flint Springfield Regional Dev. Corp. bobf@springfielddevelopment.org Bob Giroux Vermont Municipal Bond Bank (VMBB) bobg@vtbondagency.org Paul Giuliani, Esq. McKee, Giuliani and Cleveland jpglaw@comcast.net Joan Goldstein Green Mountain Economic Development Corp. jgoldstein@gmedc.com Steve Greenfield Vermont Economic Development Authority (VEDA) sgreenfield@veda.org Peter Gregory Two Rivers Ottauquechee Regional Planning Commissiopgregory@trorc.org Barbara Grimes Burlington Electric Department BGrimes@burlingtonelectric.com Gwen Hallsmith International Society of Sustainability Professionals gwenhs@gmail.com Sen. Robert Hartwell State Senator, Bennington District rhartwell@leg.state.vt.us Doug Hoffer Committee Member, Governor's Appointee drhoffer@comcast.net Karen Horn Vermont League of Cities and Towns (VLCT) khorn@vlct.org Sen. Vincent Illuzzi State Senator, Essex Orleans District villuzzi@leg.state.vt.us Steve Jeffrey Vermont League of Cities and Towns (VLCT) sjeffrey@vlct.org Ellen Kahler Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund ellen@vsjf.org Thomas Kennedy Southern Windsor Regional Planning Commission tkennedy@swcrpc.org Jeff Lewis Brattleboro Dev. Credit Corp. jlewis@brattleborodevelopment.com Tom Little, Esq. Vermont Student Assistance Authority (VSAC) tlittle@vsac.org Adam Lougee Addison Regional Planning Commission alougee@sover.net John Mandeville Lamoille Economic Dev. Corp. john@lamoilleeconomy.org Karen Marshall Connect VT karen.marshall@state.vt.us Jim Merriam Efficiency Vermont jmeeriam@veic.org Sen. Hinda Miller State Senator, Chittenden District hinda@deforestconcepts.com Lawrence Miller Committee Member, Secretary of Commerce lawrence.miller@state.vt.us Sue Minter Agency of Transportation sue.minter@state.vt.us Peter Odierna Bennington County Industrial Corp. peter@bcic.org Steven Patterson Northeast Vermont Development Corporation spatterson@nvda.net Beth Pearce Committee Chair, State Treasurer beth.pearce@state.vt.us Andy Perchlik VT DPS/Clean Energy Development Fund andrew.perchlik@state.vt.us Will Raap Gardner's Supply/Intervale Center willr@gardeners.com Kim Royar Agency of Natural Resources kim.royar@state.vt.us Tom Sandretto Buildings and General Services tom.sandretto@state.vt.us Robin Scheu Addison County RDC rpscheu@addisoncountyedc.org Susan Sinclair Central Vermont Regional Planning Commission sinclair@cvregion.com Timothy Smoth Franklin County Industrial Dev. Corp. tim@fcidc.com Jeb Spaulding Committee Member, Secretary of Administration jeb.spaulding@state.vt.us Gabrielle Stebbins Renewable Energy Vermont gabrielle@revermont.org Jamie Stewart Rutland Economic Development Corp. jstewart@rutlandeconomy.com James Sullivan Bennington County Regional Planning Commission jsullivan@bcrcvt.org Ruth Wallman Lake Champlain Islands Chamber of Commerce ruth@champlainislands.com Bonnie Waninger Lamoille County Planning Commission bonnie@lcpcvt.org Steve Wisloski State Treasurer's Office stephen.wisloski@state.vt.us Area code 802 unless otherwise indicated.

6 State of Vermont Private Activity Bond Advisory Committee Known, Possible, or Suggested Qualified Private Activities 1, 2 Estimated Allocation Prospective No. Issuer or Related Tax Exempt Entity Private Entity/ies Type of Private Activity Brief Project Description Dollar Amount Year Issuing Agency 1 Town of Hinesburg Mobile Home Park Sewage Facilities Replacement of Failing Sewer/Septic System $300,000 $400, VMBB 2 Town of Dover/Local Fire Districts Mt. Snow Ski Area Water Furnishing Facilities Consolidate 50 Fire Districts (Drinking Water/Snowmaking) $4 million $20 million 2012 VMBB 3 Montpelier Heating District Potential Large Private Customers Local District Heating and Cooling Facilities Wood Chip Heating Plant/Joint Project with State Minimal 2012 VMBB 4 Several Towns Mobile Home Parks Sewage Facilities (as reported by VMBB) below $500,000 TBD VMBB/VEDA 5 Chittenden County Transportation Authority CCTA? Mass Commuting Facilities New Operations Center TBD TBD VMBB 6 Several Municipalities TBD TBD/Not a Current Qualifed Private Activity Telecommunications Projects TBD TBD VMBB 7 Towns? Ski Resorts Water Furnishing Facilities Snowmaking 8 CCTA/GMTA/Other Transit Agencies CCTA/GMTA/Other Transit Agencies Mass Commuting Facilities Park&Rides/GPS Tracking/Shelters 9 Clean Energy Development Fund Renewable Energy Vermont Local Electric Energy or Gas Furnishing Facilities 10 City of Burlington McNeil Plant Local District Heating and Cooling Facilities 11 Towns? Casella/Chittenden Solid Waste Qualified Hazardous Waste Facilities E Waste Disposal Numerous restrictions apply under the Internal Revenue Code; consult qualified legal counsel to determine whether project qualifies 2. See also: html

7 Consensus Proposals from: VHFA, VMBB, VEDA, VSAC and Paul Giuliani Proposed December 2011 PAB Reallocation The following 2011 allocations would be released for reallocation: $26,942,520 VEDA $10,000,000 VMBB $87,820,000 Contingency $124,762,520 Total Proposal: re-allocate ½ of this to VSAC ($62,381,260) and the other ½ to VHFA ($62,381,260). The $124,762,520 cannot be re-allocated to any other issuer, and if not re-allocated, will be forfeited. VSAC and VHFA will roll forward their unused 2011 allocations. Proposed 2012 PAB Allocations $25.00 million VEDA $25.00 million VMBB $0.30 million Hinesburg sewer project (per Paul Giuliani) $0.00 million VHFA $0.00 million VSAC $ million Contingency $ million Total Rationale The two proposals avoid a forfeiture of 2011 bond allocations, and give VSAC and VHFA ample allocations. VEDA and VMBB requested $25 million each, and Paul Giuliani requested $300,000 for a Hinesburg sewer project. The large Contingency for 2012 can be allocated later in the year by the Emergency Board, or the Governor by delegation from the Emergency Board, if projects present themselves from any of these issuers, or from other eligible issuers. VHFA notes, in this regard, that if the New Issue Bond Program with the U.S. Treasury ends for VHFA, and/or VHFA develops any targeted program for Irene survivors, it could require more cap in However, it is very unlikely that VHFA would need that before July 2012.