Polk County reviews airport bond sale and schedules hearings for county borrowing

Tim, a staff presenter, told the Polk County Board of Supervisors that the airport intends to ask the county to sell a second round of bonds this spring to fund remaining airport projects. "Last year, the county sold a little bit less than $120 million of bonds to fund the first kind of round of projects at the airport," Tim said, and said the airport is likely to request issuance to cover the remaining balance of about $350 million minus last year’s sale (roughly $237.8 million).

Tim said the airport may request two series of bonds issued at the same time — one subject to the alternative minimum tax and one classified as governmental — and reminded the board that a loan agreement between the county and the airport authority requires the authority to provide cash in advance to cover debt service so the county need not levy taxes if the cash is in place. "We have to make sure that the cash is there such that when you approve the budget and don't levy the tax to pay the…