The San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) District is issuing $674 million total in General Obligation Green bonds through negotiated sale. Most of the proceeds are being used to finance improvements to BART facilities.
A portion of the bonds will also be potential refunding of a portion of outstanding Measure AA 2013 Series C Bonds. The Climate Bonds Initiative has labeled the 2019 Bonds as Climate Bond Certified. The bonds conform with the Climate Bond Standards Board’s Low Carbon Transport standard.
The bonds are rated Aaa by Moody’s and AAA by S&P.
The bonds are broken down into the following:
Measure AA bonds will fund a portion of the Earthquake Safety Program. This includes upgrading various portions of the original system to ensure safety of the public and employees of BART, and preparation of rapid return to operations after a major earthquake.
The Measure AA bonds will also retrofit the Transbay Tube, upgrade aerial structures, stations, and parking structures, and strengthen tunnels, bridges, systems, and overhead tracks.
Measure RR bonds will be used to replace track, rebuild and renew power infrastructure, repair tunnel structure, renew critical safety infrastructure, renew stations, replace train control and other major infrastructure to increase peak period capacity, expand opportunities to safely access stations, and relieve crowding.
The BART District was created in 1957 to provide regional rapid transit service in the San Francisco Bay area. The tax base includes Alameda, Contra Costa, and San Francisco Counties. In FY2018, ridership totaled over 20 million averaging 412,030 weekday exits.
The system is comprised of 121 miles of dual mainline track, 48 stations, 49,000 parking spaces, and approximately 700 cars. Assessed value of the BART District has grown 50.5% over the past 10 years. The population of the District has grown over 10% to 3.7 million since 2010.
The bonds are secured by ad valorem taxes upon all property subject to taxation by the District – the counties of Alameda, Contra Costa, and San Francisco. The taxation is without limitation as to rate or amount except as to certain personal property which is taxable at limited rates.
The District determines the tax rate required to pay debt service. All three of the BART Counties have adopted the Teeter Plan by which each agrees to cover the tax delinquencies, but Alameda County does not apply its Teeter Plan to the collection of taxes for GO bonds.
Source MuniNet Guide