Agenda 04-02-2019 8-a - Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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15 1 John Talmadge said the final financial plan would have to be reflected in both the 2 Orange County and Durham County transit plans. He referred to the Orange County side of 3 things, and said the working assumption is that there will be no changes to the transit tax 4 revenues that would be committed to bus services, vehicle purchases, bus stop improvements, 5 BRT and Hillsborough train station from the 2017 adopted transit plan. He said the capital 6 dollar commitment of$149.5 million, of Orange County transit tax to the light rail project, 7 remains the same. He said the financing costs associated with the $149.5 million would be at or 8 below the levels that are in the 2017 transit plan levels. 9 John Talmadge said the changes would reflect the new cost of the LRT project, and the 10 changes to the other sources of revenue: the state funding, and the other local funding 11 (Durham share and private capital campaign share). 12 John Talmadge said the private capital campaign only has $15 million currently, and 13 there would have to be a backstop committed at this point in time, which has been part of the 14 conversation with the cost-sharing partners and the City of Durham. 15 John Talmadge said the conversations have reiterated that there will be no changes to 16 the $149.5 million Orange County commitment, and that the financing costs would be at, or 17 below, the 2017 transit plan levels. 18 John Talmadge said the final work on this, due to the April 30t" state deadline for the 19 non-state/non-federal funds, requires all entities to come together and finish these transit plans, 20 release them for public comment, and come back to the elected boards for presentations, 21 details, and a vote. 22 Commissioner Marcoplos asked if the backstop funding could be explained. 23 John Talmadge said the private fundraising does not have a clock on it, and it can 24 continue throughout the project. He said GoTransit Partners (non-profit organization) was set 25 up to do the private fundraising, and has a consultant working for it to conduct outreach and 26 fundraising. He said the consultant has heard a lot of positive interest from corporations that 27 will sponsor the project once it is definitely going to move forward. He said at this point in time, 28 the financial plan must be finalized, and a commitment shown to the FTA that the money is 29 secure, even if the private fundraising is not as successful as expected. He said the backstop 30 is the commitment that the money will be there, but it gets reduced with every private dollar that 31 comes in. 32 Commissioner Price said Orange County's costs will be the same, but the finance 33 charges will be lower. 34 John Talmadge said the financing charges would be at, or below, the 2017 levels 35 because the long term borrowing uses the federal loan program that has very favorable terms 36 for transportation projects. He said the estimated rate that was used was very conservative 37 (5%), and as the time has come closer and closer, it seems the rates will be lower than 38 estimated, and the federal rate is currently 3%. 39 Commissioner Price asked if options to move forward without cooperative agreement 40 with Duke could be identified. She asked if the routes would be altered. 41 John Talmadge said the options do not include changing the alignment because of the 42 timeline and costs associated with making those changes. He said the station location in 43 between the Duke and VA medical centers is the second highest ridership projection, due to the 44 proximity of jobs in this area. He said all other mechanisms to proceed without a cooperative 45 agreement are being explored, and it is unclear how this will all work out. 46 Commissioner Price asked if it will be same with the railroads should they say no. 47 John Talmadge said they are much more confident of reaching an agreement with the 48 railroads, and timing is the bigger issue. 49 Commissioner Price referred to the additional monies that are needed, and asked if 50 Durham County will pick that up.