Post date: Dec 08, 2017 5:34:26 PM
The state Treasurer’s Office is expected to sell about $1.4 billion in high-speed rail bonds next month – the first sale of Proposition 1A bonds for construction of California’s embattled bullet-train project in the San Joaquin Valley.
Another $1 billion bond sale could come in the second half of the year, according to Gov. Jerry Brown’s preliminary budget for 2017-18.
High Speed Rail Authority CEO Jeff Morales told the agency’s board of directors Wednesday in Sacramento that the state Department of Finance gave a green light to a financing financing plan adopted by the Authority in December or construction of segments in the San Joaquin Valley. That approval, issued March 3, cleared the way for the sale of the bonds despite fiscal and legal challenges that continue to confront the project.
“After a lot of years and a lot of challenges, the Treasurer will sell bonds and we’ll be able to spend bond funds as intended,” Morales said. “It’s a very important milestone for us in the program.”
Proposition 1A is the $9.9 billion high-speed rail bond measure approved by California voters in 2008. Construction in the Valley is estimated to cost about $6.7 billion, while the cost of the entire statewide line from San Francisco to Los Angeles and Anaheim is projected at about $64 billion.
Detailed report:
http://www.fresnobee.com/news/local/high-speed-rail/article138757458.html