The Public Finance Authority (“PFA”) is proud to have been bond issuer on “The Bond Buyer Deal of the Year” for 2022 for its financing of the Fargo-Moorhead Metropolitan Area Flood Risk Management Project in North Dakota. The Project earned accolades in both the Public-Private Partnership (“P3”) Category and took home the coveted “Deal of the Year” award for overall merit. The Public Finance Authority issued the bonds for this crucial P3 project designed to reduce catastrophic flooding risks to the local community.
“We are thrilled for the Public Finance Authority to receive this notable recognition from The Bond Buyer for this crucial project in North Dakota that will help protect local communities from catastrophic flooding,” said Mark O’Connell, president and CEO of Wisconsin Counties Association, a founding sponsor organization of PFA. “We are proud that PFA was a part of this momentous financing deal that brought together several entities and we thank our fellow partners for their diligent work on this worthy public benefit project.”
The project’s website notes “North Dakota has the second highest inland flood risk in the United States, behind Louisiana” and with the completion of this Fargo-Moorhead Metropolitan Project “more than 235,000 people, along with their homes and businesses, will be protected from the catastrophic flooding the area has experienced in past years.” The Bond Buyer also notes that this financing project “set the template for the new federal P3 pilot program to address flood mitigation and ecosystem restoration.”
PFA partners with local governments to assist in the financing of public benefit projects that create temporary and permanent jobs, affordable housing, community infrastructure and improve the overall quality of life in local communities without any risk to taxpayers. In 2021, the Public Finance Authority celebrated over 10 years of assisting in financing public benefit projects that provide local economic development, create jobs, produce state and local tax base, and meet needs of eligible borrower’s state or local issuing authorities may not be able to serve.
You can read key highlights from The Bond Buyer’s article, “Fargo-Moorhead flood risk management P3 wins Deal of the Year” below. You can also watch The Bond Buyer award ceremony highlighting this project here.
The Bond Buyer: Fargo-Moorhead flood risk management P3 wins Deal of the Year
Dec. 6, 2022
“…Our editorial board selected a financing that features many of the key characteristics we look for in the Deal of the Year,” Mike Scarchilli, editor in chief of The Bond Buyer, said at Tuesday’s gala. “This was a complex public-private partnership, a massive, first-of-its kind project that fostered federal, state, and private-sector collaboration and funding. It met a critical public need, working creatively to solve a problem that needed to be solved. And the deal that resulted set a template for others to follow in the future…”
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PFA was established by Local Government. For Local Government.™, in order to provide local governments and eligible private entities nationwide with access to low-cost, tax-exempt and other financing for projects that are important to the community and contain no risk to the taxpayer. PFA is jointly sponsored by the National Association of Counties, National League of Cities, Wisconsin Counties Association and League of Wisconsin Municipalities.