Foothill/Eastern Board Seeks Refunding Opportunity

The Board of Directors of the Foothill/Eastern Transportation Corridor Agency (F/ETCA) approved a bond refunding transaction that is expected to result in savings of more than $200 million. The recent decline in interest rates and the Transportation Corridor Agencies’ (TCA) strong financial position has provided an opportunity to advance refund $820 million of its Series 2013A bonds that are callable in 2024. Without extending debt and under current market conditions, the recommended refunding transaction would decrease annual debt payments every year through the final maturity of the bonds without extending any maturity dates.

With the Board’s approval, the refunding is expected to: 

• Generate significant debt service savings in every year and not extend any bond maturity dates
• Improve debt service coverage each year
• Further strengthen TCA’s overall financial position
• Include a 10-year par call option on refunding bonds to maintain the ability to refund again in the future

Toll Rate Policy Adopted

The Board of Directors of the San Joaquin Hills Transportation Corridor Agency (SJHTCA) and F/ETCA approved a policy that implements an annual two percent inflationary increase that was assumed in the financial documents and has been used every year since the 2013 and 2014 refinancings. The policy formalizes the toll rate setting process and provides customer predictability.

When bonds for both agencies were refinanced in 2013 (F/ETCA) and 2014 (SJHTCA), the Traffic and Revenue Study prepared in connection with those transactions assumed annual inflationary increases in toll rates. A two percent annual increase in tolls allows TCA to set rates at an amount that will retain traffic on the 73, 133, 241 and 261 Toll Roads while also meeting bond requirements. With the adoption of the policy, the resulting toll rates will be placed annually on the Boards’ agenda consent calendar so that public transparency is ensured.

Audited Financial Statements Approved

The F/ETCA and SJHTCA Boards unanimously approved audited financial statements for Fiscal Year 2018-2019. Financial statements included in this audit are comparative Statements of Net Position, Statements of Revenues, Expenses, Changes in Net Position, Statements of Cash Flow.  This latest audit approval marks the 33rd consecutive year that TCA’s independent auditor has issued an unqualified opinion on the Agencies’ financial statements, indicating that they fairly present in all material respects the financial position of the TCA.

Contracts Approved

At their November 14 meeting, the F/ETCA and SJHTCA Boards of Directors voted to approve:

• Contracts with Advanced Resources, Apple One, HB Staffing, Robert Half and Sierra Cybernetics for temporary staffing services. The authorization is funded from approved annual budgets for a term of three years with two one-year options.
• The second year of two one-year extension options with Streetlight Data, Inc. for a subscription to the Streetlight Insight on-line application in the amount of $128,182. The subscription allows TCA access to review and analyze many levels of traffic data for future capital planning needs and to support policy decisions.
• Two one-year options to extend an existing contract with QuestMark to perform customer accounts correspondence such as account update reminders, statements and other related documents, and provide notice of violations by mail when a motorist uses the toll roads but fails to pay the toll amount due. The contract is not-to-exceed $900,000 through June 2022.