Citizen Portal
Sign In

CDOT outlines COP refunding that would cut lease payments and previews FY27 revenue allocations

Transportation Commission · January 14, 2026

Get AI-powered insights, summaries, and transcripts

Subscribe
AI-Generated Content: All content on this page was generated by AI to highlight key points from the meeting. For complete details and context, we recommend watching the full video. so we can fix them.

Summary

CDOT finance presented a planned refunding of 2016/2017 certificates of participation for headquarters and regional buildings that would lower borrowing costs and produce net present value savings; staff also previewed FY27 revenue allocations and spending categories for the department and enterprises.

CDOT finance staff briefed the Commission on two finance matters: a proposed refunding of outstanding certificates of participation (COPs) issued in 2016 and 2017 and a preview of the draft fiscal year 2027 revenue allocation and spending plan.

Refunding proposal: Jeff (CDOT finance) described a plan to refund remaining balances of the 2016/2017 COP series that become callable this June. After prior partial refunding and regular principal payments, staff estimated issuing roughly $68,000,000 of refunding COPs to defease the outstanding balances and invest proceeds in escrow until the call date. Based on current market conditions presented by the department’s financial adviser, staff estimated net present value savings in the range of about $6.9M–$8.0M (a savings rate above the typical 3–5% threshold noted by GFOA), with annual lease‑payment savings estimated at roughly $588,000–$700,000 and an all‑in borrowing cost target near 3.35%.

FY27 budget preview: Jeff also gave an overview of FY27 revenue and spending: the draft allocates roughly $2.3B of revenues to CDOT (and about $615M to the enterprises) in the base forecast. He reviewed how recent state legislation (SB260, SB280, SB184, SB230, SB320) contributes to FY27 revenue flows and broke down spending categories (capital construction, maintenance and operations, suballocated/grant programs, multimodal/mobility projects, administration and contingency). Staff emphasized statutory restrictions on some enterprise revenues and noted the department will bring a parameters resolution to the Commission next month to authorize the refunding transaction if the market terms meet the described parameters.

Next steps: staff said they will return in February with a parameters resolution authorizing staff to proceed within specified limits, pursue ratings, market the deal in March and close the refunding before the June call date; the FY27 budget will be refined for legislative common policies and brought to the Commission for adoption in March.