The Miami Commission will meet Monday evening to finalize a $45 million bond issue.
City leaders say the debt will be used to pay off a short-term bank loan that financed Miami’s share of the PortMiami tunnel dig. The balance is due in January.
The bond issue has been controversial, in part because the city’s finance department waited until this fall to address the two-year loan.
Adding to the intrigue: The city had sought proposals from private equity companies interested in holding the debt, but tossed the sole proposal it received from Gates Group Capital Partners. Gates, which wanted to loan the city $48 million by taking control of a city-owned building as collateral, complained about the bid process.
Then, last week, the night before the commission was scheduled to vote on the bond issue, the city budget director announced that he had discovered a surprise surplus of between $37 million and $45 million. Commissioners delayed Thursday’s vote saying they needed more time to digest the new budget figures.
Despite the controversy, the bond issue is likely to pass Monday.
At the commission meeting last week, Vice Chairman Marc Sarnoff and Commissioner Willy Gort expressed support for the measure.
Miami Mayor Tomás Regalado told The Miami Herald that City Manager Johnny Martinez had since “made the rounds” to the other city commissioners’ offices, and there didn’t seem to be any lingering hang-ups.
Martinez said he was confident he could win the votes to move forward on the bond issue by Monday.
The tunnel loan is technically the responsibility of the Omni Community Redevelopment Agency, a quasi-independent city body tasked with eliminating slum and blight in the downtown corridor.
While the city took out the short-term bank loan and would issue the bond, the CRA would be responsible for the debt-service payments.
With time running out, Miami Commission to take up $45 million bond issue
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With time running out, Miami Commission to take up $45 million bond issue
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With time running out, Miami Commission to take up $45 million bond issue
