State Treasurer Dale R. Folwell, CPA, announced today the awarding of $252.6 million in Grant Anticipation Revenue Vehicle Bonds (GARVEE bonds). GARVEE bonds are revenue bonds that allow the state to pledge future federal highway funds to pay debt service. The funds will be used to accelerate construction on a variety of N.C. Department of Transportation projects.
The issuance is the eighth in a series of GARVEE bond sales over the last 14 years. The GARVEE program is intended to be “evergreen,” meaning additional projects will be added to the program and additional bonds issued over time.
“We’re very pleased to be able to help in providing funding for much-needed transportation projects across the state,” Treasurer Folwell said. “I’m appreciative of the department’s staff with the State and Local Government Finance Division and the Local Government Commission for their hard work on this issuance. It’s an amazing and historical rate that they were able to get for these bonds.”
The bonds were awarded to an underwriting syndicate led by BofA Securities. Barclays, Citigroup, J.P. Morgan, Loop Capital Markets and Wells Fargo Securities are also members of the syndicate. The bonds have a 15-year maturity, and the program is structured to achieve approximately level debt service. The 2021 GARVEE bonds are scheduled to close on Sept. 16, 2021. Including the 2021 bonds, the total amount of GARVEE Bonds outstanding will be approximately $1.1 billion.
The GARVEE bond issue was approved by the Local Government Commission and the Council of State on Aug. 3, 2021. North Carolina’s GARVEE program is rated A+ by Fitch, A2 by Moody’s and AA by S&P.
The project list includes:
- Orange County, I-40 Widening, from the I-85 split at Exit 163 to the Durham County line, widening approximately 11 miles from four to six lanes to improve capacity and safety. It will also upgrade the NC 86 interchange (Exit 266).
- Forsyth County, I-74 Winston-Salem Northern Beltway, Eastern Section, from US 311 to SR 2211 (BauxMountain Road). Construction of a multi-lane, divided freeway to complete an additional segment of I-74.
- Forsyth County, I-74 Winston-Salem Northern Beltway, Eastern Section, from I-40 to US 421/NC150 (Salem Parkway), construction of a multi-lane, divided freeway.
- Forsyth County, I-74 Winston-Salem Northern Beltway, Western Section, constructing a new interchange between the Winston-Salem Northern Beltway and existing US 52 north of Winston-Salem to complete the connection of I-74 and provide connectivity to the Northern Beltway.
- Craven County, US 70 Havelock Bypass, from north of Pine Grove to south of Havelock, building a multi-lane, divided freeway to relieve congestion in and around the Cherry Point Marine Corps Air Station and the city of Havelock, separating through-traffic from military base traffic.
- Cumberland and Robeson counties, Future I-295 Fayetteville Outer Loop, from I-95 South in Robeson County to NC 24/87 (Bragg Boulevard). Construction of a multi-lane, divided freeway to relieve congestion in and around Fayetteville and improve access to the Fort Bragg military complex by separating through-traffic from local traffic.
- Franklin and Wake counties, US 401 widening, from NC 96 in Wake County to SR 1103 (Flat Rock Church Road/Clifton Pond Road) in Franklin County, widening the existing facility to a four-lane, divided roadway to improve capacity and safety of this key regional artery.
- Burke, Caldwell and Catawba counties, US 321 Widening, from north of US 70 in Catawba County to US 321A in Caldwell County, widening existing roadway to six lanes and constructing a new bridge over the Catawba River to improve the capacity and safety of this key regional artery.
- Buncombe and Henderson counties, I-26 Widening, from US 25 Business in Henderson County to NC 280 in Buncombe County near the Asheville Regional Airport, adding lanes to improve the capacity and safety.
The Department of State Treasurer’s State and Local Government Finance Division handles the sale and delivery of all state and local debt and monitors the repayment of state and local government debt. More information can be found at http://www.nctreasurer.com/slg.