Bond Concerns

- An official in the NY State Comptroller's office tells Bloomberg, of the state's plan to collect an upfront fee and then issue $250 million in bonds to finance the Aqueduct racino: "It is unusual to get one-shot revenue, and then incur a long-term liability."

The planned bond sale would continue the state's practice of borrowing for capital projects without an adequate planning process, [assistant director of budget policy Andrea] Miller at the comptroller's office said.

"We don't do a good job prioritizing our capital spending," she said. "Economic development such as the Aqueduct project is certainly very important," though it needs to be evaluated in a process that considers all the state's needs. [Bloomberg]

Also noted is the fact that the state has postponed $652.4 million of debt sales this year because of unfavorable conditions in the municipal bond market.

Just a couple of weeks after developer Louis Cappelli, who is also depending on a bond sale ($400 million worth), said that the "game plan remains intact and on schedule" for the new Concord racino and entertainment complex, much of the financing remains up in the air amid the global lending crises, Sullivan County Industrial Development Agency officials said this week.

"They are in a bit of redesign process, which results from a need to scale back the grandeur of the project to cut costs," attorney Walter Garigliano told the IDA board on Tuesday.
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Garigliano told the IDA board it could be some time before financing closes, while also indicating volatility in the financial markets could affect bond interest rates. [Record Online]