Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Public Finance Authority Srf topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Public Finance Authority describes state revolving fund loans, legacy bonds and building authority limits
Summary
The Public Finance Authority briefed the House appropriations committee on the SRF loan program, legacy fund bonds and the building authority, explaining that the PFA issues and sells bonds to provide low‑cost loans for water and infrastructure projects and that outstanding bonds total roughly $1.1 billion.
Diane Eymond, executive director of the Public Finance Authority, told the House Appropriations Government Operations section that the PFA’s statutory authority is in the Century Code (testimony cited 6‑90.4) and that the authority’s primary mission is providing low‑cost financing to political subdivisions.
Eymond described the state revolving fund (SRF) program, which combines EPA capitalization grants and bond proceeds to provide low‑interest loans for drinking water, sanitary sewer, storm sewer and related projects. She said SRF loans are typically made at about 2 percent and that the PFA evaluates creditworthiness; the Industrial Commission approves any SRF loan above $2 million. She also said the PFA sold about $150 million in bonds in 2024 to leverage the program.
To illustrate scale, Eymond cited projects the PFA has funded since inception: the drinking water program has approved roughly $814 million, and the agency has issued legacy‑fund infrastructure bonds for major projects. She said the PFA originally issued about $2 billion of bonds across programs and currently has roughly $1.1 billion outstanding; the outstanding total includes the legacy series, the SRF and other program bonds. Eymond explained that the legacy‑bond repayment stream is the interest earnings on the legacy fund, and that some legacy bond debt service is covered by legislatively directed sinking funds for up to 20 years.
Eymond described the building authority role: three authorized officers — an OMB official, Karen Tyler (Industrial Commission) and the PFA director — oversee projects authorized to use the North Dakota Building Authority, and she said a rough statutory capacity estimate on the building authority translated into about $262 million of bond issuance available today (subject to the legislative forecast formula and update at the next forecast).
The PFA director said the authority can fund loans large and small, citing loans as small as $28,000 and a largest loan in recent history, Fargo’s water reclamation project at about $171 million, and that the program has historically not turned projects away that can show an ability to repay. Eymond added that the PFA acts as lender of last resort for projects that require federal oversight and noted that the agency partners with the Department of Environmental Quality on the SRF’s technical review while PFA handles financial review and bond issuance.
Why it matters: the PFA finances local infrastructure projects that affect water systems and other municipal needs; bond issuance and available repayment sources determine what projects advance and at what cost. Committee members asked for more detail about program interactions with other state financing tools and how new appropriations proposed in the budget might layer on existing programs.
Eymond also raised administrative strains the PFA faces: turnover among local auditors and shortages of external auditors increase staff time needed to prepare and review applications and financial reports for borrowers, complicating financing for smaller communities. She said the agency is not seeking additional FTEs in the 2025–27 budget but noted capacity pressures.
