Greetings!
Welcome to
the spring edition of The Advisor.
Spring always means it's time for renewal. In this
issue we look back to our Ehlers Public Finance Seminar, and then
spring forward to some current issues like new paying agent
deadlines, state and federal loan programs, and bond pools.
Additionally, the entire Ehlers team is extending our
congratulations to the City of Osseo, for being named CEAM's
Project of the Year.
Think spring!
Steve Apfelbacher
President
and CEO
sapfelbacher@ehlers-inc.com
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State and Federal Loan Programs: Once Authorized,
Borrowing Money is Easy; Repayment is the Difficult Part
 For over fifty years Ehlers has been assisting
communities finance capital improvements.
Some
things remain constant; every year projects become more expensive,
the needs do not go away, and finding funds to pay back debt is
always perplexing.
State and
Federal governments have developed financing programs to assist
local governments with sewer, water and transportation needs. Too
often a project is delayed or canceled before the full fiscal
ramifications are known; or worse yet, a project proceeds without
knowing the financial impacts. Either way, the community
suffers the consequences.
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Downtown Osseo Central Avenue Reconstruction Project
Named CEAM's
Project of the Year
The City
of Osseo was awarded Project of the Year for their Downtown Osseo
Central Avenue Reconstruction Project from the City Engineers
Association of Minnesota (CEAM) on January 26, 2011 as part of
CEAM's Annual Conference.
Entries
were judged on the public benefit and service nature of the
project, innovative design characteristics, construction management
and control techniques, environmental considerations in the design,
community relations and involvement during construction, safety
performance, and quality of the overall end product.
Click here to continue reading.
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Bond
Pools: Are They The Best Choice For You?
There are
many options for financing public improvement projects. One
of those options is to obtain financing from a tax-exempt bond or
loan pool.
These
pools claim to offer flexibility, low issuance costs and attractive
rates by issuing a large pool of bonds and then distributing
smaller loan amounts to individual communities. The pool
provides smaller entities with low borrowing requirements to reduce
the underwriting and interest costs inherent in a small issue.
One of the
problems with bond or loan pools is contained in one simple
statement, "One size does not fit all." Every
community has unique needs that may not be consistent with the
needs of other communities in the pool.
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Recapping
the 2011 Ehlers Public Finance Seminar
by Mark Ruff, Financial Advisor
 Every year, Ehlers provides seminars and educational
programs on topics of interest in the area of public finance.
The
presenters at this year's seminar have worked directly on a number
of projects and have a vast knowledge of how public finance works
and how to help communities grow.
Attendees
at Ehlers Public Finance Seminar experienced a wide-range of topics
and presenters, covering debt issuance, economic development, and
more.
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