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HomeMy WebLinkAbout4.08 Staff Out of State Travel CITY OF DUBLIN AGENDA STATEMENT CITY COUNCIL MEETING DATE: February 8, 1988 SUBJECT Authorization for Out of State Travel for City Manager, Assistant to the City Manager and City Attorney, February 17-19, 1988, related to refinancing 1985 Certificates of Participation EXHIBITS ATTACHED None RECOMMENDATI N Authorize out of state travel FINANCIAL STATEMENT: Estimated travel costs are $3, 000. Sufficient funds are budgeted in the City Manager ' s Department Account. DESCRIPTION The City Council has previously authorized Staff to do the necessary work to refinance the 1985 Civic Center Certificates of Participation, as well as to provide new monies to finance the total cost of the Civic Center project. The City Council previously secured the services of Jones Hall Hill & White as Bond Counsel and Rauscher Pierce Refsnes as the City' s Underwriter for this project. The purpose of securing the services of Bond Counsel and the Underwriter early on was to have all of the work done that was necessary to undertake a refinancing of the 1985 COP' s, so that the City would be in a position to take advantage of the lowest market interest rates . In order to issue Certificates of Participation, it is necessary for the City to either get an insurance company to insure the issue and pay a premium for that insurance, or to have the rating agencies, which are located in New York City, issue a financial credit rating for the particular issue. The City' s Underwriter has indicated that to this date, he has been unable to find an insurance company willing to provide insurance for this issue. This necessitates requesting a rating from the bond rating agencies in New York if the City is to take advantage of the current favorable interest rates. The Underwriter has proposed that the City request a rating from Moodys and Standard & Poors rating services to enhance the marketability of the new Certificates of Participation. In order to improve the City' s chances of getting a higher financial rating from the rating services and thus lower the overall cost of the Certificates, the Underwriter and Staff have worked on a formal presentation to be made to these rating services. This presentation will include an indepth discussion on the project to be refinanced, a discussion of the overall economy of the City, the management of the City, as well as those legal issues related to the operation of the City and refinancing of the Certificates of Participation. It is Staff ' s recommendation that the Council authorize this travel for the purpose of attempting to improve the City' s current BBB+ rating and lowering the overall interest cost on this issue. COPIES TO: ITEM NO. Lt