Agenda - 02-07-2017 - 6-a - Minutes

Browse Search

12 1 Commissioner Price said this proposal eliminates the gap but stretches out the financing 2 to 2062. 3 Danny Rogers said the TIFIA loan has always been a part of the plan. 4 Commissioner Burroughs referred to the LOB, and said the gap is eliminated, but there 5 is additional interest. She asked if the total of additional interest is known. 6 Danny Rogers said the LOBs are short-term loans, which allows for cash flow while 7 waiting for federal dollars to come in. He said this will actually be more efficient and less 8 expensive. 9 Commissioner Burroughs asked if the LOBs have better interest rates than the short- 10 term cash flow financing. 11 Danny Rogers said yes. 12 Commissioner Burroughs referred to the base case, and asked if more clarification 13 could be provided. 14 Danny Rogers said everything that was promised in the plan will be provided, but the 15 cost to complete it has increased. He said State and Federal funds are less than originally 16 expected. 17 Commissioner Burroughs referred to the wording that states it is being funded locally at 18 a higher level, and asked if this information is broken out somewhere. 19 Danny Rogers said that was part of the presentation in December. 20 Commissioner McKee asked if the $3 billion mark will be hit. 21 Danny Rogers said he is pretty sure this will not happen. 22 Commissioner McKee said this project started off in 2011 using 2011 dollars and 23 progressed a bit over time. He asked if$1.37 billion in 2011 dollars could be translated into the 24 year of expenditure dollars at that time. 25 Danny Rogers said the original project was a little over $1.8 billion. 26 Commissioner McKee said the true increase in cost is from $1.8 to $2.476 billion. 27 Danny Rogers said it is two different projects because additions were made. He said 28 one addition is joint development, which is an optional program at about $130 million added to 29 the project, to allow the opportunity to take advantage of a program that Federal Transportation 30 Authority (FTA) has made eligible. He said if that program is not taken advantage of, then the 31 cost does not occur. He said another $100 million is for the station at North Carolina Central 32 University. He said the comparison is really $1.8 to $2.2 billion. He said there is additional cost 33 of completing the project in 2026 instead of 2025. He said the 2011 plan did not include 34 financing costs, but the 2016 plan does, as it is eligible for federal funding. He said the actual 35 cost has only increased by 4%. 36 Commissioner McKee said there are some very smart people working for GoTriangle, 37 but he is concerned that some very significant information has not been included over the 38 years. He said in very recent meetings it was presented that Orange and Durham counties 39 would have to pick up the cost of the reduced funding from the State and Federal governments; 40 but this evening the presentation is stating that no additional local funds are needed. He said 41 he simply cannot understand this change. He asked if the rationale for reducing the capacity of 42 the platforms can be explained, given the ever increasing needs for public transportation in the 43 region. 44 Danny Rogers said as far as having a gap in December, and now not having a gap, he 45 said financial experts are involved and it is always the goal to improve the plan. He said 46 GoTriangle is trying to work with Orange County and share all the information that is available. 47 Commissioner McKee said his questions are not directed to him personally. He said it is 48 a concern to him that the commuter rail was very important to Durham, and this has been 49 removed from the plan. He asked if there is a reason that this was removed.