City of Alexandria, Virginia
________________
MEMORANDUM
DATE: FEBRUARY 7, 2018
TO: THE HONORABLE MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF CITY COUNCIL
FROM: MARK B. JINKS, CITY MANAGER /s/
DOCKET TITLE:
TITLE
Consideration of a Resolution for the City of Alexandria to authorize Virginia Railway Express (VRE) to enter into a debt financing agreement with the Virginia Resources Authority (VRA) for the purpose of refinancing VRE's existing Railroad Rehabilitation and Improvement Financing (RRIF) loan. [ROLL-CALL VOTE]
BODY
_________________________________________________________________
ISSUE: Consideration of a Resolution for the City of Alexandria to authorize Virginia Railway Express (VRE) to enter into a debt financing agreement for the purpose of refinancing existing debt.
RECOMMENDATION: That the City Council adopt by roll call vote the resolution (Attachment 1) to approve issuance of refinancing debt for VRE equipment.
BACKGROUND: NVTC, with the consent of PRTC and the VRE Participating and Contributing Jurisdictions, (Alexandria is a Contributing Jurisdiction) entered into a financing agreement with the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) through its Railroad Rehabilitation and Improvement Financing (RRIF) program in 2007 and borrowed a total of $69.0 million for new VRE railcars delivered between 2008 and 2012. The current outstanding principal balance on the loan is approximately $52 million, and the loan is now administered by the Build America Bureau of the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT).
VRE analyzed several refinancing options for this loan and determined that a refinancing through the VRA pooled bond program is the most cost-effective option to maximize savings. VRA's borrowing program has financed over $7.5 billion of infrastructure projects for borrowers in the Commonwealth including cities, counties, towns, and regional authorities responsible for financing water and sewer, solid waste and regional jail projects.
The VRA program a...
Click here for full text