Thursday, July 16, 2020

THE REGIONS

A NATIONAL COALITION OF PUBLIC transportation agencies is lob-bying the U.S. Senate for up to $36 billion in additional res-cue aid to counter the effects of COVID-19. . . . . . . . . . . . 4

MAINE VOTERS OVERWHELMINGLY approved $120 million of borrowing to finance improve-ments to transportation and broadband infrastructure. . . . 4

COMMENTARY

SINCE 2011, NEW YORK GOV. ANDREW Cuomo has mastered a for-mula for driving economic growth through infrastructure investments, writes Michael Likosky, partner at Advantage Infrastructure. . . . . . . . . . . . 5

WEB EXCLUSIVES

THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC MAY HIT Michigan especially hard, given its high concentration in the service and manufactur-ing sectors, and its recovery could lag other states, S&P Global Ratings said in moving its outlook on the AA rating to negative.

SAN FRANCISCO OFFICIALS ARE seeking voter approval of $487.5 million general obligation bonds to address the city’s COVID-19-related economic downturn and lon-ger-term health-, housing- and poverty-related challenges. The city’s board of supervisors unanimously approved sending the “Health and Recovery” bond ballot to voters to decide in November.

THURSDAYwww.bondbuyer.com

Vol. 392 No. 35344 N.Y., N.Y. THE DAILY NEWSPAPER OF PUBLIC FINANCE

The deadline for the phase-out of Libor at the end of 2021 will not be delayed and despite the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, prog-ress is being made on the switch to alternative reference rates.

That was the message of New York Federal Reserve officials in two webcast presentations Monday and Wednesday.

New York Federal Reserve Pres-ident John Williams said Monday in a joint presentation with Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey that the transition away from Libor “continues to be of paramount im-portance.”

“The clock is still ticking,” Wil-liams said. “It’s critical that regu-lators and institutions continue to

Libor Showed its Weakness When COVID-19 HitBy Brian TumulTy

Turn to Performance page 4

Bloomberg News

Big SavingsFor DFW inRefunding

In the largest airport refund-ing since the COVID-19 crisis began, Dallas-Fort Worth Inter-national Airport achieved net present value savings of more than 27%, far better than expect-ed, according to chief financial officer Chris Poinsatte.

Tuesday’s $489.5 million pricing is the first of two tax-ex-empt refunding deals the airport plans through August.

The airport also plans to issue $1.2 billion of taxable bonds lat-er this month.

In a roadshow before the deal, the airport anticipated NPV sav-ings of just under 20% on the bonds reaching final maturity in 2035. The actual NPV sav-ings came to 27% or $132.3 mil-lion, with cash-flow savings of $168.8 million, Poinsatte said.

Overall, the serial bonds were eight times oversubscribed, Poinsatte said. Maturities of 2035 were oversubscribed by a factor of 11.2 and closed with a yield of 1.88%. True interest

By richard Williamson

Turn to Low page 5

“Space Florida has done a tremendous job in attracting companies to our state,” Wright said in a statement. “From this bill’s passage, they will be able to conduct business and save costs for all involved parties, while ensuring the state of Flor-ida is not on the hook when it comes to issuing bonds.”

Dale Ketcham, Space Flori-da’s vice president of govern-ment and external relations, said that the recent growth of the commercial space industry will likely result in greater need for bond issuances to maintain infrastructure needs instead of utilizing bank loans. He said

the bill is important because it makes clear that the state is not obligated to finance any of the agency’s revenue bonds.

“This legislation clarifies and simplifies the process for Space Florida to utilize its bonding authority to further grow the aerospace industrial capacity in Florida,” Ketcham said. “The financing tool kit of Space Flori-da is akin to a commercial enter-prise as it is not backed by the full faith and credit of the State of Florida. This recent legisla-tion removed potential ambigu-ity on that issue.”

Private firms are increasing

Florida is ready to use the munic ipal bond market to achieve its goal of boosting the private space-launch industry.

Gov. Ron DeSantis signed legislation in late June enabling Space Florida, the state’s aero-space economic development agency, to bypass approval from the governor and cabinet to is-sue revenue bonds for private companies pursuing capital projects.

The bill’s sponsor, Sen. Tom Wright, R-New Smyrna Beach, said the law provides Space Florida with the same stream-lined bonding process afforded to other governmental entities and will foster a more compet-itive marketplace for the state’s space industry.

A SpaceX rocket at Kennedy Space Center in May. A new Florida law eases the path to sell municipal bonds for private space firms.

Munis LiftFlorida’sSpace Plan

Turn to Florida page 6

By andreW coen

NASA/Kim Shiflett

“The clock is still ticking” for Libor, said New York Federal Reserve Board President John Williams, referring to its phase-out date.

WEDNESDAY’S YIELDS

Complete market coverage appears on page 2

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The Bond Buyer2Thursday, July 16, 2020

Government Securities Prices 10-year: 9930/32 to yield 0.63%, down 3/32

30-year: 9730/32 to yield 1.33%, down 22/32

Municipal Bond Index 13429/32, up 4/32

The Bond Buyer’s Total: $14.107 billion, down $1.542 billion

30-Day Visible Supply Competitives: $3.814 billion, up $66.4 million

(as of 7/16) Negotiated: $10.293 billion, down $1.608 billion

TheMuniCenter List Offering Total: $009.9 million, down $0.4 million

Wednesday’s Data

Wednesday’s Economic Indicators

Indicator Last Report Forecast Actual

Empire State Mfg Survey June: -0.2 July: 9.25 July: 17.2Import Prices May: +0.8% June: +1.0% June: +1.4%Export Prices May: +0.4% June: +0.8% June: +1.4%

Industrial Production May: +1.4% June: +4.4% June: +5.4%

Capacity Utilization May: 65.1% June: 67.6% June: 68.6% Forecasts represent the median of estimates by economists polled by IFR Markets

AAron WeitzmAn

While economic activity gained in nearly all districts, it hasn’t come close to pre-pan-demic levels, according to the Federal Reserve’s Beige Book, released Wednesday.

“Outlooks remained high-ly uncertain, as contacts grappled with how long the COVID-19 pandemic would continue and the magnitude of its economic implications,” according to the release.

Employment improved in nearly all dis-tricts as states allowed businesses to reopen.

“Contacts in nearly every district noted difficulty in bringing back workers be-cause of health and safety concerns, child-care needs, and generous unemployment insurance benefits,” the report said. “Many contacts who have been retaining workers with help from the PPP said that going forward, the strength of demand would determine whether they can avoid layoffs.”

Consumer spending also rebounded with the reopening. Retail sales gained, with vehicle sales, the food and beverage sector and home improvement leading the way, according to the report.

In data, business activity showed expan-sion in New York state in July for the first time since February, according to the Em-pire State Manufacturing Survey, released Wednesday by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

The general business conditions index reversed to positive 17.2 in July from neg-ative 0.2 in June.

Economists surveyed by IFR Markets expected the index would be positive 9.25.

The new orders index climbed to pos-itive 13.9 from negative 0.6, while the shipments index grew to 18.5 from 3.3. Unfilled orders narrowed to negative 0.6 from negative 12.5, the Fed said.

The inventories index dropped to neg-

ative 9.7 from negative 0.6 in the prior survey. The pric-es paid index slipped to 14.9 from 16.9, while the prices received index slid to neg-ative 4.5 from negative 0.6. The number of employees index rose positive 0.4 from negative 3.5, while the aver-age employee workweek in-dex narrowed to negative 2.6 from negative 12.0, the Fed reported.

Looking six months into the future, the general business conditions index showed respondents are less optimistic than they were a month ago, as it fell to 38.4 from 56.5 last month. The new orders index dropped to 41.9 from 52.9, while the ship-ments index decreased to 39.4 from 53.1, and unfilled orders fell to 0.6 from 1.9 the Fed said. The inventories index moved up to zero from negative 5.6.

The future prices paid index grew to 28.6 from 25.6, while the prices received index rose to 10.4 from 7.5. The number of employees index climbed to 21.1 from 19.0, while the average employee work-week index slipped to 3.9 from 5.0, the Fed reported. The capital expenditures in-dex increased to 9.1 from 3.1. The technol-ogy spending index rose to 8.4 from 6.3.

Separately, import prices jumped 1.4% in June, after a 0.8% increase in May, the Labor Department reported Wednesday.

Economists anticipated a 1.0% gain.Export prices soared 1.4% in June —

the biggest rise since March 2011 — after rising 0.4% the prior month.

Economists estimated a 0.8% rise.Also, industrial production increased

5.4% in June after a 1.4% gain in May, but remains 10.9% below February levels, according to the Fed.

Capacity utilization gained to 68.6% in June from 65.1 in May. q

Beige Book Calls Outlook ‘Highly Uncertain’ As COVID-19 Lingers

ICI: Muni bond funds see inflows inlatest week

Source: Investment Company Institute

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Market News

Muni Market Favors Issuers; Yields are Low, Investors BullishAttractive low yields enticed issuers

into the market on Wednesday as retail investor confidence remained elevated.

Municipal bond funds saw inflows of $1.8 billion, according to the Investment Com-pany Institute, the 10th straight week that investors plowed cash into mutual funds.

Municipals were steady Wednesday as several billion dollar deals hit the screens.

“The level of selling pressure since the spike of the second quarter has been mit-igated as seen through the bids-wanted levels. This is an indication that the market is more comfortable and the indication of the inflows we have seen over the last few weeks contributes to that,” a New York strategist said. “However, as headlines become more disconcerting because of COVID, participants need to be cautious of the potential for another massive wave of cases and subsequent market reaction. This is still certainly an issuer market.”

In the primary, BofA Securities priced

for retail the New York State Urban D e v e l o p m e n t Corp.’s (Aa1/NR/AA+/NR) $2.2 billion of Series 2020C tax-ex-e m p t g e n e r a l purpose state per-sonal income tax revenue bonds.

The deal was priced for retail to y ie ld f rom 0.23% with a 5% coupon to 1.15% with a 5% coupon in 2030, 1.60% with a 5% coupon in 2035, 1.88% with a 4% cou-pon in 2037, 1.60% with a 5% coupon in 2040, 1.84% with a 5% coupon in 2041, 2.07% with a 4% coupon in 2042, 2.48% with a 3% coupon in 2048, 2.19% with a 4% coupon in 2049 and 2.00% with a 5% coupon in 2050.

R a m i r e z & Co. priced for re-tail investors the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey’s (A3/A+/AA-/NAF) $1 billion of consol-idated bonds in two tranches.

The $563.505 million of 221st Ser ies bonds , subject to alter-

native minimum tax, were priced for retail to yield from 0.39% with a 5% coupon in 2021 to 1.55% with a 5% coupon in 2030 and 2.60% with a 4% coupon in 2050.

The $437.915 million of 222nd Series bonds were priced for retail to yield from 0.29% with a 5% coupon in 2021 to 2.15% with a 4% coupon in 2040.

Morgan Stanley priced the Texas Trans-portation Commission’s (Aaa/NR/AAA/AAA) $1.27 billion of taxable general obligation mobility fund refunding bonds.

The bonds were priced at par to yield from 0.255% in 2021 to 2.063% in 2038 and 2.472% in 2044.

BofA priced the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York’s (Aa1/AA+/

NR/NR) $136.61 million of FHA-insured mortgage hospital revenue bonds for the Maimonides Medical Center.

The DASNY deal was priced to yield from 0.57% and 0.63% with 5% coupons in a split 2024 maturity to 2.12% with a 4% coupon and 2.41% with a 3% coupon in a split 2040 maturity; a 2043 maturi-ty was priced to yield 2.18% with a 4% coupon and a 2050 maturity was priced to yield 2.57% with a 3% coupon.

A strong market and high demand made for increased firmness on Wednesday, as the municipal market continues to recover from the impact of the COVID-19 crisis, according to a New York underwriter.

“The market is very firm and it’s amaz-ing considering the large calendar this week,” the underwriter said on Wednesday afternoon.

“The technicals are still really good and there is a lot of money around,” he said. “The amount of the deals that are in the market are doing well and seeing good response especially for high-grade.”.

Spread compression continues to con-tribute to the overall market technicals.

“The market has recouped all of the spread widening since the virus began and there continues to be a pretty good market in here,” he said. q

By Christine AlBAno & Chip BArnett

002_BB071620 2 7/15/2020 5:11:11 PM

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003_BB071620 3 7/15/2020 5:11:12 PM

The Bond Buyer4Thursday, July 16, 2020Regions

Transit Agencies Plead for More Federal Coronavirus FundsA national coalition of public transporta-

tion agencies is lobbying the U.S. Senate for up to $36 billion in additional rescue aid to counter the effects of COVID-19.

“Joining together across the nation will make our voice louder and cause even clear-er,” Patrick Foye, chairman of New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority, said during Tuesday’s videoconference call that featured several transit agency heads.

They shared tales of woe related to plum-meting revenue from ridership drops due to stay-at-home measures to combat the coro-navirus and the loss of a variety of dedicated tax revenues.

Overall, 27 heads of transportation agen-cies, many of whom spoke online Tuesday on what was billed as a “virtual rally,” signed a letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch Mc-Connell, R-Ky., and Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-NY.

“It’s hard to overstate the size and chal-lenge of the deficits, and the agencies that are gathered here today are facing different chal-lenges. We’ve got different revenue sources,

different financial conditions, but we’re all under extreme pressure,” Foye said.

New York MTA has requested $3.9 billion of aid to match what it received in April un-der the CARES Act. According to Foye, the MTA will receive its last CARES installment in early August.

The MTA, one of the largest municipal issuers with roughly $47 billion of debt, has received multiple downgrades since the pan-demic hit, most recently from S&P Global Ratings last week, which Foye called “so-bering.” S&P lowered the MTA’s primary transportation revenue bond credit to BBB-plus from A-minus, and called prospects for further federal aid “fading and uncertain.”

“The S&P report makes the case for addi-tional federal funding,” Foye said.

Los Angeles County Metropolitan Trans-portation Authority projects a $1.8 billion loss over two fiscal years, said chief execu-tive Phillip Washington, who said expenses are going up as revenue falls.

Daily ridership across the system, which serves the nation’s largest county, has dropped from 1.2 million pre-coronavirus to 550,000, although riders are starting to

return.The Philadelphia-based Southeastern

Pennsylvania Transportation Authority’s capital program is at risk, General Manager Leslie Richards said. That program, she said, contributes more than $1 billion annually to Pennsylvania’s economy.

“We’re preparing for a number of potential scenarios that could delay or halt important state-of-good repair projects,” Richards said. Without further federal aid, she added, short-falls could run up to $800 million through fiscal 2023.

Seattle’s Sound Transit receives no state funding, according to CEO Peter Rogoff. “There are some people who have asserted that this problem should be a state and local matter,” he said.

“[But] King County Metro and the other transit providers get a pittance. Sound Transit gets zero money from the state; we are highly dependent upon sales taxes and motor vehicle excise taxes to cover at least 70% to 80% of our costs as a region. So you can imagine what has happened,” he said.

Federal aid will enable long-term projects to continue, said Randy Clark, CEO of Cap-

ital Metro in Austin, Texas. There, the City Council and Cap Metro’s board last month approved a $10 billion expansion plan called Project Connect.

“I look at this pandemic as being incredi-bly significant but still measured in months, and I don’t know if this is six months or 18 months, the heart of this pandemic,” Clark said.

“But transit, what we do and the benefits in our community are measured in years and decades and generations, whether it’s Pat’s tunnels in New York City that were put in in 1905 and they’re running trains through them today, or the projects that Cap Metro is working to advance to grow our community.”

The crisis has forced the Greater Cleve-land Regional Transit Authority to “be more agile, innovative, customer-focused and stra-tegic” said acting CEO Floun’say Caver. “We’ve gained a greater understanding of ridership patterns, learned to increase and modernize our cleaning protocols, and I’m excited about the future of public transit in this new environment,” he said.

Still, said Caver, an infrastructure backlog remains. q

By Paul Burton

Maine voters overwhelmingly approved $120 million of borrowing to finance im-provements to transportation and broad-band infrastructure as the state grapples with revenue challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The state’s $105 million transportation bond referendum passed Tuesday with 78% support, with some absentee votes still to be counted. A separate $15 million ballot measure to issue bonds for high-speed Internet infrastructure was approved with 75% “yes” votes.

The proceeds of the transportation bonds will fund improvements to Maine’s highways, bridges, railroads, ports and aviation facilities. The state borrowing will

be matched by $275 million from federal funds and other sources.

GAS TAXES DOWN

Bruce Van Note, commissioner of the Maine Department of Transportation, said passage of the bond package was crucial given the sharp decline in gas tax revenues since the COVID-19 pandemic began in March.

The Maine DOT is estimating $56 mil-lion less revenue for the state’s Highway Fund for the 2021 fiscal year, which would mark an 11% drop from the 2020 year, which ended June 30.

“This bond vote was more important than any other transportation bond vote in recent memory,” Van Note said in a state-

ment issued Wednesday. “Our need has never been greater, and interest rates have never been lower.”

The broadband bond would fund im-proved high-speed Internet access in Maine’s rural and underserved areas. It will be matched by $30 million in private, federal and local support.

TECHNOLOGY IMPROVEMENTS

“The approved broadband package is of particular interest to policymakers,” said Maine State Treasurer Henry Beck. “Such technology investments are a top priority for Gov. [Janet] Mills and the Legislature and will benefit Maine people and businesses.”

Maine’s general obligation bonds are

rated AA by S&P Global Ratings and Aa2 by Moody’s Investors Service with stable outlooks.

Both rating agencies affirmed the state’s GO debt in May, citing strong reserve levels prior to a $119 million bond trans-action geared toward financing capital upgrades to highways, bridges, broadband, senior housing and public colleges.

The Mills administration has projected a revenue shortfall of around $500 mil-lion for the 2021 fiscal year, which would mean revenues would be 13% below esti-mates in the state’s current two-year bud-get cycle.

“Reserves have helped stabilize their credit,” S&P credit analyst Jill Legnos said. “That will help them through this recession.” q

Maine Voters Approve Bonds for Transportation and Broadband Projects By andrew Coen

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work together to ensure they’re all ready for January 1, 2022.”

The No. 1 priority, according to Williams, “is to stop writing Libor contracts.”

The London Interbank Offered Rate is a widely-used benchmark for short-term inter-est rates based on data contributed by partici-pating banks. It was tarnished by rate-rigging scandals.

Market participants who continue to use Libor are driven by nostalgia because it’s not a robust reference rate, Williams said.

Bailey highlighted that weakness by dis-cussing the recent market crisis that occurred as worldwide awareness grew of the impact of the pandemic.

The week of March 16 when central bank rates were at historically low levels, “over half of the 35 published Libor rates across all currencies contain no transaction-based sub-missions at all,” said Bailey. Simultaneously,

Bailey said, “Libor rates, and therefore costs with borrowers, spiked upwards.”

In contrast, the Secured Overnight Financ-ing Rate (SOFR), which is being promoted as an alternative to Libor in the United States, held its volumes and weathered the crisis.

David Bowman, senior associate director of the Federal Reserve, said during Wednes-day’s presentations that the SOFR market now accounts for over $1 trillion of transac-tions daily.

“It is produced in a transparent and di-rect manner,” said Bowman. “It is based on observable transactions, not dependent on estimates like Libor or derived from some model.”

The SOFR rate the Federal Reserve Bank of New York publishes on its website each weekday represents the rate in the repo mar-ket the previous day. It is published in the morning and finalized at 2:30 p.m. eastern time. The New York Fed also publishes 30-day, 90-day and 100-day compound averages

of SOFR.The SOFR index, also published by the

New York Fed, can be used to calculate a cus-tomized compound average over any period the user chooses.

“People forget that the reason that we have to go through this transition is because of the way the financial system structured itself,” said Bowman. “It put far too much weight on a rate that was far too weak. And now we’re dealing with the consequences.”

John Gerli, chief capital markets officer of the Federal Home Loan Bank’s Office of Finance, said his experience with SOFR so far has provided him encouragement that the investor base may be broader than it was with Libor.

“Some of them have said that it’s a good substitute for repo, and it’s a cash and highly liquid marketplace,” Gerli said. “So I think from our perspective, at least in two years out (from the phase-out) the investor base here, may be broader.” q

Performance in March an Example of Why Libor Will GoContinued from page 1

004_BB071620 4 7/15/2020 5:11:13 PM

www.bondbuyer.com 5Thursday, July 16, 2020 Commentary

New York, Cuomo Lead in ESG; Washington Should Take NoteThe morning after Memorial Day, New

York Gov. Andrew Cuomo reopened America’s economy at a pop-up table in the New York Stock Exchange (N.Y.S.E.). After ringing the bell returning traders to the floor for the first time since the onset of the public health crisis,

Cuomo delivered the defining speech on economic growth for the COVID-19 era.

We would, as a nation, invest in infra-structure-driven economic growth by un-leashing the potential of Americans who have been worn down but not counted out.

Such an approach may seem common sense today. It was not in 2011 when Cuo-mo first took office. To the contrary.

ALL-IN

In fact, no other elected leader has ever made an all-in bet that strategic, rigorous and targeted infrastructure investments would drive economic growth which would, in turn, produce community co-hesion.

This strategy was entirely untried and thus untested in 2011. This was a risky strategy for an ambitious politician to take at the age of 53.

Cuomo had inherited one of the most balkanized sectionalist diverse economies in the world.

The vast wealth of Wall Street sat along-side abject poverty. It has untold diversity including its myriad cities, suburbs, rural regions, and tribal communities. Govern-ing New York is, in important ways, like running the country. No wonder that four of its governors have become presidents, including Theodore Roosevelt and Frank-lin D. Roosevelt.

Since 2011, Cuomo has mastered a for-mula for driving economic growth through infrastructure investments. It is what glob-al financial institutions, including pension funds, call Economic, Social and Gover-nance investment decisions. In common vernacular, it is called investing in the American Dream.

THREE ELEMENTS

For Cuomo, it all boils down to three elements. Provide sizable opportunities for pensions, sovereigns and insurance funds to drive money into infrastructure projects through money managers via debt and equity vehicles.

Second, foster a progressive energy fu-ture. Third, provide economic opportu-nities to financial and construction firms owned by women, people of color, and veterans. Tied, put in place career ladders into economic affluence for our brethren.

Global finance firms are then investing into the American Dream or, ESG.

For this reason, the rebuttable pre-sumption of these investors must be that Cuomo’s portfolio of projects are ESG compliant.

Today, one of the shortcomings of the ESG discussion is that investors put talk before action. New York provides an op-portunity to get the sequencing right.

These global investors will be rewarded. They already are being rewarded.

On June 14th, Cuomo cut the ribbon on the first terminal of a multi-billion dollar modernization of LaGuardia Airport. The modernization of John F. Kennedy got started to the tune of over $12 billion. The $1.5 billion Jacob Javits Center is 75% complete. An $8 billion Penn Station transformation is on its way.

The Governor will bring renewable hy-dro energy from Canada to downstate New York’s costly market.

The state will drive the modernization of the East Coast Amtrak Corridor con-necting Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Penn-sylvania, Delaware, Baltimore, and the District of Columbia.

Cuomo is a national leader in innovative community infrastructure. He is establish-ing innovative public-private partnerships with public educational institutions. Cuo-mo has forged partnerships between small businesses and Cornell’s Center for Mate-rial Research, itself a land grant university.

CUTTING-EDGE CAREERS

Career ladders to opportunity are a sig-nature feature of these projects. SUNY Empire State College has established a route into cutting-edge careers for students at Finger Lakes Community College ma-joring in networking and cybersecurity.

In the Brooklyn Navy Yard, students at Medgar Evers College are primed to drive innovative manufacturing processes.

The New York Metropolitan Transporta-tion Authority is a key entity within Cuo-mo’s ESG portfolio. It encompasses the boroughs of New York City through its subway system and key parts of the state through its railroad system. The MTA runs up Connecticut. It is the connective tissue with New Jersey.

The MTA is at the heart of the region. The rhythm of the system today revolves around the travels from home to work and back of our first responders. New Yorkers of all backgrounds and incomes run the system. Disadvantaged business enterpris-es resource 30% of its contracts.

In other words, an investment into the MTA is an investment in the American Way.

SUPPORTING THE MTA

These discussions in Washington D.C. over whether to support the Authority are nothing more than an unfortunate impulse to debase our national character.

The federal government should be fi-nancially fueling the MTA rather threat-ening to punish it for protecting its public integrity as emergency infrastructure.

One of the most important vital dis-cussions though tied to the governor is occurring within financial circles.

Wall Street is no longer simply the Easy Street of Reagan and his progenitors. Gov. Cuomo’s decision to present his economic growth strategy at the N.Y.S.E. is thus of great import.

Cuomo has created a new class of pri-vate money managers and investors. These contenders are fighting to place their mon-ey into his New York portfolio.

The state itself represents a supreme-ly prized portfolio of ESG assets. At the same time, these new contenders are fight-ing also for America’s entire ESG portfo-lio. Global financial firms will drive much of their investments through this new Wall Street.

This new Wall Street will flourish eco-nomically because it will adopt Cuomo’s investment hypothesis: e pluribus unum. We, as a nation, stand on this hypothesis; that is, economic empathy means the ap-preciation of fortitude in one another and the indelible strength of our combined catalytic force.

Michael Likosky is a partner at Advan-tage Infrastructure

By Michael likosky

cost for the entire deal came to True In-terest cost of 1.866%. Interest on the bonds is not subject to the Alternative Minimum Tax.

“We were able to lower the yields by 4 to 13 basis points,” Poinsatte said. “We achieved a spread of 75 basis points from MMD. We were looking at 100 earlier in the week.”

Siebert Williams Shank & Co. was senior manager.

Hilltop Securities and Estrada Hinojo-sa are financial advisors.

The deal attracted 89 investment groups, almost twice as many as have participated in tax-exempt issues in the past, Poinsatte said.

“We have another tax-exempt refund-ing coming up of $500 million of bonds and $75 million in commercial paper,” Poinsatte said. “That’s currently sched-uled for the middle of August. We might move that up.”

Michael Phemister, who retired in 2019 as DFW’s long-time vice president for treasury services and guided the air-port’s bond strategy, said the Tuesday deal demonstrates the resiliency of DFW

as an economic engine.“It comes back to what we have been

telling people for years,” Phemister said. “The aviation industry has demonstrated time after time its ability to overcome obstacles. In 2001, I took the first airport

deal to market after 9/11, and it was the same story. They were telling me ‘you’ll never sell bonds again.’”

That bond sale for $650 million was used to build Terminal D, the airport’s showcase international terminal.

“The underwriter was telling us you may not be able to sell bonds,” Phemis-ter recalled. “And I said, we will sell the bonds. We went to New York in Decem-ber of that year and sold $650 million, and five years later, the terminal was built.”

Phemister said he heard similar warn-ings when hub carrier American Airlines filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2011.

“I kept asking the ratings agencies: Why are we not triple-A when we have proven time and time and time again that no matter what happens, we do not default?” Phemister said.

Tuesday’s sale followed a downgrade from S&P Global Ratings to A from A-plus, with a negative outlook.

“The rating action and negative out-look are based on the severe drop in en-planements and the significant negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic that, in our view, is likely to depress passenger levels and financial performance over

the intermediate term and could increase volatility of activity,” said S&P Global Ratings credit analyst Todd Spence.

Moody’s rates the bonds A1. Fitch maintains an A-plus rating with a neg-ative outlook, while Kroll Bond Rating Agency rates the bonds AA.

In a Tuesday report, Moody’s cited DFW as one of the large hub airlines whose risks are heightened by the depen-dency on a single airline. American, rated Ba3 with a negative outlook by Moody’s, accounts for 68% of DFW’s traffic.

“Though large airports can bear the risk of high airline concentration, they also benefit from being essential to the airline’s network and are typically highly profitable for airlines,” Moody’s analysts wrote.

Poinsatte said the airport made a deci-sion to aggressively disclose information to investors on the Municipal Securi-ties Rulemaking Board’s EMMA Web site when the COVID-19 outbreak began to affect transportation in the U.S. in March.

“We want to be sure that investors have enough information that they can feel comfortable with DFW as a good invest-ment,” he said. q

Low Rates and High Investor Interest Greet Dallas-Fort Worth RefundingContinued from page 1

DFW brought the deal in at low yields, said Chief Financial Officer Chris Poinsatte.

005_BB071620 5 7/15/2020 5:11:14 PM

The Bond Buyer6Thursday, July 16, 2020

TRENDS IN THE REGIONSoutheast

Florida Wants to Use Muni Bonds toHelp Private Space Firms Take Off

their presence in a space launch business that had once been the sole domain of NASA.

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’ Blue Ori-gin, headquartered in the Seattle area, has a manufacturing facility at Cape Canav-eral, where it plans to launch its massive New Glenn orbital launch vehicle from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.

SpaceX, the launch firm founded by Tesla’s Elon Musk, uses Kennedy Space Center for many launches, including the May 30 Crew Dragon launch that lifted U.S. astronauts from U.S. soil for the first time since the final Space Shuttle flight in 2011.

Space Florida was created in 2006 when the Space Florida Act legislation consolidated three existing state space entities into one single organization. The predecessor agencies were the Florida Space Authority, Florida Space Research Institute and Florida Aerospace Finance Corporation.

Ketcham said Space Florida has most-ly financed infrastructure projects around Cape Canaveral since its founding.

Space Florida also spearheaded an ex-pansion of Northrop Grumman’s aircraft design center project at Orlando Mel-bourne International Airport. The agency is also providing financing of a planned new campus for Aeirion Supersonic in Melbourne.

The state suffered a blow in 2011 when around 9,000 jobs were lost after NASA’s shuttle program ended. Ketcham said with Space Florida’s backing the state has recouped those lost jobs and added more on top of it.

DeSantis is focusing on expanding Florida’s aerospace economy as the state grapples with fiscal challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. DeSantis signed a scaled down $92.2 billion bud-get that included $1 billion of spending

cuts from a previous fiscal plan approved by the legislature on March 19 during the early stages of the health crisis.

Florida’s revenue forecast fell $1.45 billion from pre-COVID-19 estimates, according the state’s latest monthly fi-nancial report, released June 26, as a result of many businesses being forced to close in March and April. A recent spike in COVID-19 cases has caused new shutdowns throughout the state that analysts say will likely result in mid-year spending cuts.

S&P credit analyst Carol Spain said a further expansion of the space indus-try would help in Florida’s ongoing goals to diversity the state’s economy beyond tourism and hospitality. While the state doesn’t levy personal income taxes, Spain said the sector would pro-vide many ancillary economic benefits by adding high paying jobs that would result in increased sales tax collections.

Spain cautioned though that adding big aerospace companies will ultimately not have a “material impact” on state revenues in the near-term. She said mu-nicipalities that house the firms, such as Brevard County where Cape Canaveral is located, would likely see more of the revenue benefits.

“It would probably have more of a lo-cal impact than at the state level,” Spain said. “It could attract more businesses to the area.”

Florida general obligation bonds are rated triple-A by Moody’s Investors Ser-vice, S&P Global Ratings and Fitch Rat-ings. Moody’s upgraded the state’s debt one notch to its highest mark in June 2018.

SPACE FORCE

The bonding legislation became law as DeSantis lobbies for the permanent com-

mand headquarters of the new U.S. Space Force, which is temporarily housed in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

The Space Force was established as an independent military branch by President Trump last December after previous-ly operating part of the Air Force since 1982.

Ketcham said that while the Space Florida legislation was not associated with the efforts to secure the Space Com-mand, the bond option could play a cen-tral role in that process. He said the scope of a U.S. Space Command project would likely require use of the municipal bond market rather than private bank loans used for other Space Florida initiatives.

DeSantis sent a letter in early July to Air Force Assistant Secretary John Hen-derson backing eight Space Command headquarters proposals pitched by Jack-sonville, Pensacola, Miami-Dade County, Brevard County, Orange County, Pinellas County, Seminole County and Hillsbor-ough County. The Air Force is scheduled to determine finalists from more than 20 applications across the country in November and decide on a permanent headquarters early next year.

“Our state has a long history of sup-port for our nation’s effort in space through the operations of the Kennedy Space Center, the 45th Space Wing at Patrick Air Force Base and Cape Canav-eral Air Force Station,” DeSantis wrote in his letter. “These installations provide great support to our national defense and provide a significant economic impact to our state. Equally important as our military installations, is Florida’s robust commercial space industry.” q

For more content about this region, visit the Regional News tab on BondBuyer.com.

Continued from page 1

Alabama Aa1/AA/AA+ 0.21 0.42 0.92 1.70Florida Aaa/AAA/AAA 0.19 0.38 0.85 1.59Georgia Aaa/AAA/AAA 0.19 0.35 0.78 1.50Kentucky Aa3/A/AA– 0.24 0.50 1.00 1.74Louisiana Aa3/AA–/AA– 0.25 0.60 1.16 1.92Mississippi Aa2/AA/AA 0.23 0.47 0.98 1.75North Carolina Aaa/AAA/AAA 0.19 0.35 0.78 1.50South Carolina Aaa/AA+/AAA 0.19 0.38 0.81 1.53Tennessee Aaa/AAA/AAA 0.19 0.35 0.78 1.50Virginia Aaa/AAA/AAA 0.19 0.35 0.78 1.50West Virginia Aa2/AA–/AA 0.21 0.44 0.94 1.72

State Ratings One-Year Five-Year 10-Year 30-Year

General ObliGatiOn Yield Curves fOr JulY 14, 2020

Sources: Municipal Market Data, Moody’s Investors Service, Standard & Poor’s, Fitch Ratings

Alabama 0 $0 0 $0 $0Florida 5 412,470 8 502,250 –89,780Georgia 5 327,815 4 205,565 122,250Kentucky 4 764,195 7 846,175 –81,980Louisiana 0 0 1 187,770 –187,770Mississippi 1 48,715 0 0 48,715North Carolina 0 0 0 0 0South Carolina 1 2,840 0 0 2,840Tennessee 4 135,770 2 8,880 126,890Virginia 3 935,705 3 336,410 599,295West Virginia 0 0 0 0 0Sources: Ipreo, The Bond Buyer

July 15, 2020 July 8, 2020State Issues Amount Issues Amount Chg in Amt

visible supplY bY state

Dollar amounts are in thousands

The Cape Canaveral building where the Blue Origin orbital launch vehicle will be built is shown under construction in 2017.

Blue Origin

006_BB071620 6 7/15/2020 5:11:15 PM

www.bondbuyer.com 7Thursday, July 16, 2020

Competitive Sales NoticesNOTICE OF SALE

$11,437,800* PUBLIC IMPROVEMENT SERIAL BONDS,2020 SERIES A

OF THECITY OF WHITE PLAINS

COUNTY OF WESTCHESTER, NEW YORK

Sale Date: July 23, 2020, 11:00 a.m.

Place of Sale: Office of Capital Markets Advisors, LLC 11 Grace Avenue, Suite 308 Great Neck, New York 11021 (516) 570-0340

Date of Bonds: August 4, 2020

Maturity of Bonds: August 1, 2022 - 2040, inclusive, as shown below

Sealed proposals, or, at the option of bidders, proposals delivered via Ipreo’s Parity electronic bid submission system (“Parity”) will be received and considered at the place and date stated above up to 11:00 A.M. (EDT) for the purchase at not less than par plus accrued interest of the $11,437,800* aggregate principal amount of serial bonds described herein.

The bonds are entitled Public Improvement Serial Bonds, 2020 Series A (the “Bonds”) and are general obligations of the City of White Plains (the “City”), a City of the State of New York, located in the County of Westchester.

The Bonds will be dated August 4, 2020, will be in denominations equal to each respective maturity, and will be numbered upward in order of maturity. Interest on the Bonds will be payable semi-annually on February 1 and August 1 in each year until maturity commencing August 1, 2021. The Bonds will mature on August 1 in the years and corresponding principal amounts, which are expected to provide substantially level debt service pursuant to paragraph d of Section 21.00 of the Local Finance Law, as follows:

YearPrincipalAmount* Year

PrincipalAmount*

2022 $537,800 2032 $600,0002023 540,000 2033 610,0002024 545,000 2034 625,0002025 550,000 2035 635,0002026 555,000 2036 645,0002027 560,000 2037 660,0002028 570,000 2038 670,0002029 575,000 2039 685,0002030 585,000 2040 700,0002031 590,000

* Preliminary, subject to change.

The City may, after selecting the successful purchaser as provided herein, by 2:00 P.M., Prevailing Time, on July 23, 2020, adjust such installments of principal, in multiples of $5,000, except for one necessary odd denomination, to the extent necessary to meet the requirements of substantially level debt service. Any such adjustment shall be conclusive and binding on the successful purchaser.

The Bonds maturing on or before August 1, 2028 will not be subject to redemption prior to maturity. The Bonds maturing on August 1, 2029 and thereafter, will be subject to redemption prior to maturity, at the option of the City, in whole or in part, and if in part, in any order of their maturity and in any amount within a maturity (selected by lot within a maturity) on any date on or after August 1, 2028, at par plus accrued interest to the redemption date.

If less than all the Bonds of any maturity are to be redeemed, the particular Bonds of such maturity to be redeemed shall be selected by lot by the City in any customary manner of selection as determined by the Commissioner of Finance. Notice of such call for redemption shall be given by mailing such notice to the registered owner or holder thereof not more than sixty (60) days nor less than thirty (30) days prior to such date by regular United States mail. Notice of redemption having been given as aforesaid, the Bonds so called for redemption shall, on the date of redemption set forth in such notice, become due and payable, together with interest accrued to such redemption date, and interest on such Bonds shall cease to be paid after such redemption date.

The Bonds will be issued as registered bonds and, when issued, will be registered in the name of Cede & Co., as nominee of The Depository Trust Company, in Jersey City, New Jersey (the “Securities Depository”), which will act as Securities Depository for the Bonds. Individual purchases of the Bonds will be made in book entry form only in principal amounts of $5,000 or integral multiples thereof, except for one necessary odd denomination. Purchasers of the Bonds will not receive certificates representing their ownership interest in the Bonds and ownership interest in the Bonds will be transferred pursuant to the book entry system. Interest on the Bonds will be payable on semi-annually on February 1 and August 1 each year until maturity commencing on August 1, 2021. Principal of and interest on the Bonds will be paid by the City to the Securities Depository, which will in turn remit such principal and interest to its Participants for subsequent distribution to the Beneficial Owners of the Bonds, as more fully described in the Official Statement accompanying this Notice of Sale. All capitalized terms used herein and not otherwise defined are defined in the Official Statement.

Pursuant to an agreement between the Securities Depository and the City, the Securities Depository may discontinue its services by giving written notice to the City. Upon such termination, the City shall appoint a fiscal agent or the chief fiscal officer of the City shall act as fiscal agent (the “Fiscal Agent”) and Beneficial Owners of the Bonds will receive registered certificates representing their ownership interest in the Bonds as more fully described in the Official Statement accompanying this

Notice of Sale. In such case, principal of the Bonds when due will be payable upon presentation at the principal office of the Fiscal Agent. Interest on the Bonds will continue to be payable semi-annually on February 1 and August 1 each year until maturity commencing on August 1, 2021. Such interest will be payable by check drawn on the Fiscal Agent and mailed to the registered owner on each interest payment date at the address as shown on the registration books of the Fiscal Agent as of the fifteenth day of the calendar month immediately preceding each such interest payment date.

The Bonds will be issued pursuant to the New York State Constitution and statutes of the State of New York, including, among others, the Local Finance Law and other proceedings and determinations relating thereto, including several serial bond ordinances adopted by the Common Council of the City as described in the Official Statement accompanying this Notice of Sale. The proceeds of the Bonds will be used to provide new monies for the City for the financing of various public purposes all as further set forth in the Official Statement.

The Bonds will be duly authorized, executed and issued in accordance with the New York State Constitution and statutes of the State of New York and will constitute valid and legally binding general obligations of the City, for the payment of which the City will have validly pledged its faith and credit, and all real property within the City subject to taxation by the City, will be subject to levy by the City of ad valorem taxes, without limitation as to rate or amount, subject to the applicable provisions of Chapter 97 of the New York Laws of 2011 (the “Tax Levy Limit Law”), for payment of the principal of and interest on the Bonds.

The New York State Constitution requires the City to pledge its faith and credit for the payment of the principal of and interest on the Bonds and to make annual appropriations for the amounts required for the payment of such principal and interest. The New York State Constitution also provides that if at any time the appropriating authorities fail to make the required appropriations for the annual debt service of the Bonds and certain other obligations of the City, a sufficient sum shall be set apart from the first revenues thereafter received and shall be applied for such purpose and that the chief fiscal officer of the City may be required to set apart and apply such revenues as aforesaid at the suit of any holder of such obligations. The Tax Levy Limit Law imposes a statutory limit on the power to the City to increase its annual real property tax levy based on formulae set forth therein, including such taxes to pay principal of, redemption premium, if any, and interest on the Bonds. However, in the opinion of bond counsel, under current law, the limitations imposed by the Tax Levy Limit Law do not diminish the prior lien on revenues of the City set forth in the New York Constitution and established by the aforesaid pledge of the City’s faith and credit in connection with the authorization and issuance of the Bonds.

Each bid must be for all of the Bonds in the aggregate principal amount of $11,437,800 and must state in a multiple of one hundredth of 1% or one eighth of 1% per annum the rate or rates of interest the Bonds are to bear. Each bid may state multiple rates; provided, however, that only one rate of interest may be bid for Bonds of the same maturity. Variations in rates of interest so bid may be bid in any order. Unless all bids are rejected, the award will be made to the bidder complying with the terms of sale and offering to purchase the Bonds at the lowest true interest cost computed in accordance with the true interest cost method of calculation, that being the rate which, compounded semiannually, is necessary to discount all principal and interest payments on the Bonds to the purchase price (par plus premium and accrued interest, if any) bid for the Bonds. The true interest cost computation should be made as of the date of delivery of the Bonds. If two or more such bidders offer to purchase the Bonds at the same lowest true interest cost computed as described above, the Bonds will be awarded to the one of said bidders whose bid offers to purchase the Bonds at the highest premium dollar amount, and if two or more such bidders offer to purchase the Bonds at the same premium dollar amount, to one of said bidders selected by the sale officer by lot from among said bidders or by allocation, in the manner directed by such sale officer. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the City reserves the right after selecting the successful purchaser to adjust the above-stated installments of principal to the extent necessary to meet the requirements of substantially level debt service. Any adjustment shall be in the City’s sole discretion, conclusive and binding on the successful purchaser. The right is reserved by the City to reject any or all bids, and any bid not complying with this Notice of Sale will be rejected. The right is further reserved, however, for the City to waive any irregularity in the form of any bid, if, in the judgment of the City, such waiver would not materially affect the integrity of the bidding process.

THE CITY RESERVES THE RIGHT TO CHANGE THE TIME AND/OR DATE FOR THE OPENING OF THE BIDS AS DESCRIBED HEREIN. NOTICE OF SUCH CHANGE SHALL BE PROVIDED NOT LESS THAN 24 HOURS PRIOR TO THE TIME SET FORTH HEREIN FOR THE OPENING OF THE BIDS BY MEANS OF A SUPPLEMENTAL NOTICE OF SALE TRANSMITTED OVER THE TM3.

The Bonds will not be designated as “qualified tax-exempt obligations” pursuant to Section 265(b)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”).

Each bid must either (i) be addressed to the undersigned Commissioner of Finance, c/o Capital Markets Advisors, LLC, 11 Grace Avenue, Suite 308, Great Neck, New York 11021 and should be marked on the outside “Proposal for City of White Plains, New York Public Improvement Serial Bonds, 2020 Series A,” (ii) be received via facsimile transmission or (iii) be submitted electronically via Parity. No other form of electronic bidding service nor telephone proposals will be accepted. Once the proposals are communicated electronically via Parity or via facsimile, each bid will constitute an irrevocable offer to purchase the Bonds pursuant to the terms therein provided.

Prospective bidders wishing to submit an electronic bid via Parity must be contracted customers of Parity. Prospective bidders who do not have a contract with Parity must call (212) 849-5021 to become a customer. By submitting an electronic bid for the Bonds, a bidder represents and warrants that such bidder’s bid for the purpose of the Bonds is submitted for and on behalf of such prospective bidder by an offer or agent who is duly authorized to bind the bidder to a legal, valid and enforceable contract for the purchase of the Bonds.

Each prospective bidder who wishes to submit electronic bids shall be solely responsible to register to bid via Parity. Each qualified prospective bidder shall be solely responsible to make necessary arrangements to access Parity for purposes of submitting its bid in a timely manner

continued on next page

007_BB071620 7 7/15/2020 3:11:08 PM

The Bond Buyer8Thursday, July 16, 2020

Competitive Sales Notices

and in compliance with the requirements of this Notice of Sale. Neither the City nor Parity shall have any duty or obligation to undertake such registration to bid for any prospective bidder or to provide or assure such access to any qualified prospective bidder, and neither the City nor Parity shall be responsible for a bidder’s failure to register to bid or for proper operation of, or have any liability for any delays or interruptions of, or any damages caused by Parity. The City is using Parity as a communications mechanism, and not as the City’s agent, to conduct the electronic bidding for the City’s bonds. The City is not bound by any advice or determination of Parity as to whether any bid complies with the terms of this Notice of Sale. All costs and expenses incurred by prospective bidders in connection with their registration and submission of bids via Parity are the sole responsibility of the bidders, and the City is not responsible, directly or indirectly, for any such costs or expenses. If a prospective bidder encounters any difficulty in registering to bid, or submitting or modifying a bid for the Bonds, it should telephone Parity and notify the City’s financial advisor, Capital Markets Advisors, LLC at 516-364-6363 (provided that the City shall have no obligation to take any action whatsoever upon receipt of such notice).

If any provisions of this Notice of Sale shall conflict with information provided by Parity, as approved provider of electronic bidding services, the provisions of this Notice of Sale shall control. Further, information about Parity, including any fee charged, may be obtained from Parity at (212) 849-5021. The time maintained by Parity shall constitute the official time with respect to all bids submitted.

By submitting a bid, each bidder is certifying that its bid is a firm offer to purchase the Bonds, is a good faith offer which the bidder believes reflects current market conditions, and is not a “courtesy bid” being submitted for the purpose of assisting in meeting the competitive sale requirements relating to the establishment of the “issue price” of the Bonds pursuant to Section 148 of the Code, including the requirement that bids be received from at least three (3) underwriters of municipal bonds who have established industry reputations for underwriting new issuances of municipal bonds (the “Competitive Sale Requirements”). The Municipal Advisor will advise the winning bidder if the Competitive Sale Requirements were met at the same time it notifies the winning bidder of the award of the Bonds.

The winning bidder shall, within one (1) hour after being notified of the award of the Bonds, advise the Municipal Advisor by electronic or facsimile transmission of the reasonably expected initial public offering price or yield of each maturity of the Bonds (the “Initial Reoffering Prices”) as of the date of the award.

By submitting a bid, the winning bidder agrees (unless the winning bidder is purchasing the Bonds for its own account and not with a view to distribution or resale to the public) that if the Competitive Sale Requirements are not met, it will elect and satisfy either option (1) or option (2) described below. Such election must be made on the bid form submitted by each bidder.

1. Hold the Price. The winning bidder:(a) will make a bona fide offering to the public of all of the Bonds at the Initial Reoffering

Prices and provide Bond Counsel with reasonable supporting documentation, such as a copy of the pricing wire or equivalent communication, the form of which is acceptable to Bond Counsel,

(b) will neither offer nor sell to any person any Bonds within a maturity at a price that is higher, or a yield that is lower, than the Initial Reoffering Price of such maturity until the earlier of (i) the date on which the winning bidder has sold to the public at least 10 percent of the

Bonds of such maturity at a price that is no higher, or a yield that is no lower, than the Initial Reoffering Price of such maturity or (ii) the close of business on the 5th business day after the date of the award of the Bonds, and

(c) has or will include within any agreement among underwriters, any selling group agreement and each retail distribution agreement (to which the winning bidder is a party) relating to the initial sale of the Bonds to the public, together with the related pricing wires, language obligating each underwriter to comply with the limitations on the sale of the Bonds as set forth above.

2. Follow the Price. The winning bidder:(a) will make a bona fide offering to the public of all of the Bonds at the Initial Reoffering Prices

and provide the City with reasonable supporting documentation, such as a copy of the pricing wire or equivalent communication, the form of which is acceptable to Bond Counsel,

(b) will report to the City information regarding the first price at which at least 10 percent of the Bonds within each maturity of the Bonds have been sold to the public,

(c) will provide the City with reasonable supporting documentation or certifications of such sale prices the form of which is acceptable to Bond Counsel. This reporting requirement, which may extend beyond the closing date of the Bonds, will continue until such date that the requirement set forth in paragraph (b) above for each maturity of the Bonds is satisfied, and

(d) has or will include within any agreement among underwriters, any selling group agreement and each retail distribution agreement (to which the winning bidder is a party) relating to the initial sale of the Bonds to the public, together with the related pricing wires, language obligating each underwriter to comply with the reporting requirement described above.

For purposes of the “hold the price” or “follow the price” requirement, a “maturity” refers to Bonds that have the same interest rate, credit and payment terms.

Regardless of whether or not the Competitive Sale Requirements were met, the winning bidder shall submit to the City a certificate (the “Reoffering Price Certificate”), satisfactory to Bond Counsel, prior to the delivery of the Bonds stating the applicable facts as described above. The form of Reoffering Price Certificate is available by contacting Bond Counsel or the Municipal Advisor.

If the winning bidder has purchased the Bonds for its own account and not with a view to distribution or resale to the public, then, whether or not the Competitive Sale Requirements were met, the Reoffering Price Certificate will recite such facts and identify the price or prices at which the purchase of the Bonds was made.

For purposes of this Notice, the “public” does not include the winning bidder or any person that agrees pursuant to a written contract with the winning bidder to participate in the initial sale of the Bonds to the public (such as a retail distribution agreement between a national lead underwriter and a regional firm under which the regional firm participates in the initial sale of the Bonds to the public). In making the representations described above, the winning bidder must reflect the effect

on the offering prices of any “derivative products” (e.g., a tender option) used by the bidder in connection with the initial sale of any of the Bonds.

A good faith deposit in the amount of $114,378 for the Bonds (the “Deposit”) in the form of (i) a certified or cashier’s check or (ii) a wire, payable to the City, is required for a bid to be considered by a prospective purchaser (the “Purchaser”). If a check is used, it must be drawn upon an incorporated bank or trust company and must accompany the bid. If a wire transfer is used, it must be sent to the account so designated by the City for such purpose, not later than 10:00 A.M. on the date of the sale; however, the City reserves the right to award the Bonds to a successful bidder whose wire transfer is initiated but not received by such time provided that such successful bidder’s fed wire reference number has been received. A wire reference number must be provided when the bid is submitted. Bidders must contact Capital Markets Advisors, LLC, 11 Grace Avenue, Suite 308, Great Neck, New York, telephone No. 516-570-0340, the City’s Municipal Advisor, no later than 24 hours prior to the bid opening to obtain the City’s wire instructions. The City shall not incur any liability from delays of or interruptions in the receipt of the Deposit by fed wire or return of the Deposit to any unsuccessful bidder. Under no circumstances shall interest accrue on the Deposit occasioned by a delay in the return of the Deposit to any unsuccessful bidder. No interest on the Deposit will accrue to the Purchaser. The Deposit will be applied to the purchase price of the Bonds.

If the Bonds qualify for the issuance of any policy of municipal bond insurance or commitment therefor, the purchase of any such insurance policy or the issuance of any such commitment shall be at the sole expense of the purchaser of the Bonds and any increased costs of issuance of the Bonds resulting by reason of the same, including, without limitation, the cost of obtaining a rating on the Bonds from a nationally recognized rating agency, unless otherwise paid, shall be paid by the purchaser. Any failure of the Bonds to be so insured or of any such policy of insurance to be issued shall not constitute cause for a failure or refusal by the purchaser of the Bonds to accept delivery of and pay for the Bonds.

In the event that prior to the delivery of the Bonds the interest income from obligations of the same type and character received by the holders thereof shall be taxable by the terms of any Federal income tax law, the successful bidder may, at its election, be relieved of its obligation to purchase the Bonds, and in such case the Deposit will be returned to such bidder without interest.

The Bonds will be delivered at Jersey City, New Jersey, or at such other place as may be agreed upon with the purchaser, on or about August 4, 2020, against payment in Federal Funds to the City, in an amount equal to the par value of the Bonds, plus the premium bid, if any, plus accrued interest from the date of the Bonds to the day of delivery and payment therefor, less the amount of the Deposit.

It is anticipated that CUSIP identification numbers will be printed on the Bonds, but neither the failure to print such numbers on any Bond nor any error with respect thereto shall constitute cause for a failure or refusal by the purchaser to accept delivery of and pay for the Bonds. All expenses in relation to the printing of CUSIP numbers on the Bonds shall be paid by the City; provided, however, that the CUSIP Service Bureau charge for the assignment of such numbers shall be the responsibility of and shall be paid by the purchaser.

Upon delivery of and payment for the Bonds, the purchaser will be furnished, without cost, with the approving opinion of Squire Patton Boggs (US) LLP, New York, New York, Bond Counsel to the City, to the effect that the Bonds are valid and legally binding general obligations of the City, for the payment of which the City has validly pledged its faith and credit, and all real property within the City subject to taxation by the City, is subject to levy by the City of such ad valorem taxes as may be necessary to pay the principal of and interest on the Bonds, without limitation as to rate or amount, subject to the applicable provisions of the Tax Levy Limit Law. Said opinion of Bond Counsel will also state that assuming continuing compliance with certain covenants and the accuracy of certain representations contained in the record of proceedings relating to the authorization and issuance of the Bonds, (a) interest on the Bonds is excluded from gross income for federal income tax purposes and is not an item of tax preference for purposes of the federal alternative minimum tax imposed on individuals and corporations; (b) interest on the Bonds is exempt from personal income taxes imposed by the State of New York and political subdivisions thereof, including The City of New York and the City of Yonkers; (c) interest on the Bonds may be subject to certain federal taxes imposed only on certain corporations, (d) the scope of the engagement of Squire Patton Boggs (US) LLP New York, New York, as Bond Counsel in relation to the Bonds, has extended solely to rendering the opinions expressed in said opinion, that said law firm is rendering no opinion other than the opinions expressly stated therein, and that said law firm expresses no opinion on the accuracy or completeness of any documents prepared by or on behalf of the City for use in connection with the offer and sale of the Bonds.

The purchaser of the Bonds will also be furnished, without cost, in form satisfactory to Bond Counsel, (a) a certificate evidencing execution, delivery and receipt of payment for the Bonds; (b) a certificate dated the date of the Bonds and executed by the officer of the City who executed the Bonds on behalf of the City, stating that (i) no litigation is then pending or, to the knowledge of such officer, threatened to restrain or enjoin the issuance or delivery of the Bonds, (ii) the statements contained in the Official Statement relating to the Bonds, on the date thereof and on the date of delivery of and payment for the Bonds, were and are true in all material respects and did not, and do not, contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make the statements made therein, in light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading, and (iii) no authority or proceedings for the issuance of the Bonds have been repealed, rescinded or revoked; (c) a tax compliance certificate executed by the Commissioner of Finance of the City; (d) a continuing disclosure agreement executed by the Commissioner of Finance of the City for purposes of Rule 15c2-12 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Rule”), promulgated by the Securities and Exchange Commission, as described below; and (e) the unqualified legal opinion as to the validity of the Bonds of Squire Patton Boggs (US) LLP, New York, New York, Bond Counsel to the City, as described herein.

The successful bidder will be required to provide to the City, within five (5) days after the award of the Bonds, certain information regarding the reoffering price to the public of the Bonds. The

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Competitive Sales Notices

successful bidder shall furnish to the City a certificate acceptable to Bond Counsel, dated as of the day of closing for the Bonds, stating the initial prices at which a bona fide public offering of all of the Bonds was made and stating that 10% or more of the Bonds were in fact sold to the public (excluding bond houses, brokers and other intermediaries) at or below such initial respective public offering prices. Such certificate shall state that it is made on the best knowledge, information and belief of the successful bidder after appropriate investigation.

The population of the City is estimated to be 58,109 (2019 census). The average full valuation of real property subject to taxation by the City is $9,818,627,768, its debt limit to be $654,532,116 and its net indebtedness to be $114,257,979. The indebtedness to be evidenced by the issuance of the Bonds will increase the total net indebtedness of the City by $11,437,800.

The Official Statement accompanying this Notice of Sale will be made available to prospective purchasers of the Bonds for review prior to sale. The Official Statement is deemed near final by the City pursuant to paragraph (b)(1) of the Rule, omitting the (i) yield, interest rate and any premium offered on the Bonds; and (ii) the name of the successful bidder and their compensation with respect to the Bonds. Such information will be supplied when the Final Official Statement is updated following the sale of the Bonds, as required by the Rule. The City or Capital Markets Advisors, LLC, the City’s financial advisor for the issuance of the Bonds, will make the requested number of copies of the Final Official Statement available on the date and at the place designated by the winning bidder upon its request. Otherwise, the City, and Capital Markets Advisors, LLC, acting on behalf of the City, assume no responsibility and have not and will not incur any duty to comply with any provision of the Rule regarding the availability or distribution of the Official Statement to investors.

For purposes of the Rule, the City is the only “obligated person” with respect to the Bonds and will make an agreement, as described in the Official Statement, to provide or cause to be provided (i) certain annual financial information and operating data (the “Annual Information”) for the preceding fiscal year, (ii) timely notice of the occurrence of certain material events with respect to the Bonds, and (iii) timely notice of any failure by the City to provide the Annual Information with respect to itself within the time specified in that agreement (the “Undertaking”). The Official Statement contains a complete description of the Undertaking.

ADDITIONAL COPIES OF THE OFFICIAL STATEMENT AND NOTICE OF SALE MAY BE OBTAINED FROM CAPITAL MARKETS ADVISORS, LLC.

CITY OF WHITE PLAINS, NEW YORK

Dated: July 14, 2020 /s/ Sergio Sensi Commissioner of Finance

continued from previous page NOTICE OF SALE$14,170,000* PUBLIC IMPROVEMENT

REFUNDING SERIAL BONDS, 2020 SERIES B OF THE

CITY OF WHITE PLAINSCOUNTY OF WESTCHESTER, NEW YORK

Sale Date: July 23, 2020, 11:00 a.m.

Place of Sale: Office of Capital Markets Advisors, LLC 11 Grace Avenue, Suite 308 Great Neck, New York 11021 (516) 570-0340

Date of Bonds: August 13, 2020

Maturity of Bonds: September 15, 2020 - 2029, inclusive, as shown below

Sealed proposals, or, at the option of bidders, proposals delivered via Ipreo’s Parity electronic bid submission system (“Parity”) will be received and considered at the place and date stated above up to 11:00 A.M. (EDT) for the purchase at not less than par plus accrued interest of the $14,170,000* aggregate principal amount of serial bonds described herein.

The bonds are entitled Public Improvement Refunding Serial Bonds, 2020 Series B (the “Bonds”) and are general obligations of the City of White Plains (the “City”), a City of the State of New York, located in the County of Westchester.

The Bonds will be dated August 13, 2020, will be in denominations equal to each respective maturity, and will be numbered upward in order of maturity. Interest on the Bonds will be payable semi-annually on March 15 and September 15 in each year until maturity commencing September 15, 2020. The Bonds will mature on September 15 in the years and corresponding principal amounts, which are expected to provide substantially level debt service pursuant to paragraph d of Section 21.00 of the Local Finance Law, as follows:

YearPrincipalAmount* Year

PrincipalAmount*

2020 $1,655,000 2025 $1,910,0002021 1,565,000 2026 2,015,0002022 1,650,000 2027 580,0002023 1,725,000 2028 605,0002024 1,825,000 2029 640,000

* Preliminary, subject to change.

The City may, after selecting the successful purchaser as provided herein, by 2:00 P.M., Prevailing Time, on July 23, 2020, adjust such installments of principal, in multiples of $5,000, to the extent necessary to meet the requirements of substantially level debt service. Any such adjustment shall be conclusive and binding on the successful purchaser.

The Bonds will not be subject to redemption prior to maturity. The Bonds will be issued as registered bonds and, when issued, will be registered in the name

of Cede & Co., as nominee of The Depository Trust Company, in Jersey City, New Jersey (the “Securities Depository”), which will act as Securities Depository for the Bonds. Individual purchases of the Bonds will be made in book entry form only in principal amounts of $5,000 or integral multiples thereof. Purchasers of the Bonds will not receive certificates representing their ownership interest in the Bonds and ownership interest in the Bonds will be transferred pursuant to the book entry system. Interest on the Bonds will be payable on semi-annually on March 15 and September 15 each year until maturity commencing on September 15, 2020. Principal of and interest on the Bonds will be paid by the City to the Securities Depository, which will in turn remit such principal and interest to its Participants for subsequent distribution to the Beneficial Owners of the Bonds, as more fully described in the Official Statement accompanying this Notice of Sale. All capitalized terms used herein and not otherwise defined are defined in the Official Statement.

Pursuant to an agreement between the Securities Depository and the City, the Securities Depository may discontinue its services by giving written notice to the City. Upon such termination, the City shall appoint a fiscal agent or the chief fiscal officer of the City shall act as fiscal agent (the “Fiscal Agent”) and Beneficial Owners of the Bonds will receive registered certificates representing their ownership interest in the Bonds as more fully described in the Official Statement accompanying this Notice of Sale. In such case, principal of the Bonds when due will be payable upon presentation at the principal office of the Fiscal Agent. Interest on the Bonds will continue to be payable semi-annually on March 15 and September 15 each year until maturity commencing on September 15, 2020. Such interest will be payable by check drawn on the Fiscal Agent and mailed to the registered owner on each interest payment date at the address as shown on the registration books of the Fiscal Agent as of the last day of the calendar month immediately preceding each such interest payment date.

The Bonds will be issued pursuant to the New York State Constitution and statutes of the State of New York, including, among others, the Local Finance Law and other proceedings and determinations relating thereto, including a refunding serial bond ordinance adopted by the Common Council of the City on July 6, 2020 and will be subject to the approval of the New York State Comptroller pursuant to Section 90.10 of the Local Finance Law. The proceeds of the Bonds will be used to refund outstanding serial bonds of the City all as further set forth in the Official Statement accompanying this Notice of Sale

The Bonds will be duly authorized, executed and issued in accordance with the New York State Constitution and statutes of the State of New York and will constitute valid and legally binding general obligations of the City, for the payment of which the City will have validly pledged its faith

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GIVE NOTICE buyers want to know

Advertise your competitive sales in The Bond Buyer.For more information, contact or Kerry-Ann C. Parkes at 212-803-8436 or at nos@arizent.com

For rates and additionalinformation about advertisinga notice of competitive sale,please call Kerry-Ann C. Parkesat 212-803-8436 orsend an email tonos@arizent.com.

THE DAILY NEWSPAPER OF PUBLIC FINANCE

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The Bond Buyer10Thursday, July 16, 2020

Competitive Sales Notices

and credit, and all real property within the City subject to taxation by the City, will be subject to levy by the City of ad valorem taxes, without limitation as to rate or amount, subject to the applicable provisions of Chapter 97 of the New York Laws of 2011 (the “Tax Levy Limit Law”), for payment of the principal of and interest on the Bonds.

The New York State Constitution requires the City to pledge its faith and credit for the payment of the principal of and interest on the Bonds and to make annual appropriations for the amounts required for the payment of such principal and interest. The New York State Constitution also provides that if at any time the appropriating authorities fail to make the required appropriations for the annual debt service of the Bonds and certain other obligations of the City, a sufficient sum shall be set apart from the first revenues thereafter received and shall be applied for such purpose and that the chief fiscal officer of the City may be required to set apart and apply such revenues as aforesaid at the suit of any holder of such obligations. The Tax Levy Limit Law imposes a statutory limit on the power to the City to increase its annual real property tax levy based on formulae set forth therein, including such taxes to pay principal of, redemption premium, if any, and interest on the Bonds. However, in the opinion of bond counsel, under current law, the limitations imposed by the Tax Levy Limit Law do not diminish the prior lien on revenues of the City set forth in the New York Constitution and established by the aforesaid pledge of the City’s faith and credit in connection with the authorization and issuance of the Bonds.

Each bid must be for all of the Bonds in the aggregate principal amount of $14,170,000 and must state in a multiple of one hundredth of 1% or one eighth of 1% per annum the rate or rates of interest the Bonds are to bear. Each bid may state multiple rates; provided, however, that only one rate of interest may be bid for Bonds of the same maturity. Variations in rates of interest so bid may be bid in any order. Unless all bids are rejected, the award will be made to the bidder complying with the terms of sale and offering to purchase the Bonds at the lowest true interest cost computed in accordance with the true interest cost method of calculation, that being the rate which, compounded semiannually, is necessary to discount all principal and interest payments on the Bonds to the purchase price (par plus premium and accrued interest, if any) bid for the Bonds. The true interest cost computation should be made as of the date of delivery of the Bonds. If two or more such bidders offer to purchase the Bonds at the same lowest true interest cost computed as described above, the Bonds will be awarded to the one of said bidders whose bid offers to purchase the Bonds at the highest premium dollar amount, and if two or more such bidders offer to purchase the Bonds at the same premium dollar amount, to one of said bidders selected by the sale officer by lot from among said bidders or by allocation, in the manner directed by such sale officer. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the City reserves the right after selecting the successful purchaser to adjust the above-stated installments of principal to the extent necessary to meet the requirements of substantially level debt service. Any adjustment shall be in the City’s sole discretion, conclusive and binding on the successful purchaser. The right is reserved by the City to reject any or all bids, and any bid not complying with this Notice of Sale will be rejected. The right is further reserved, however, for the City to waive any irregularity in the form of any bid, if, in the judgment of the City, such waiver would not materially affect the integrity of the bidding process.

THE CITY RESERVES THE RIGHT TO CHANGE THE TIME AND/OR DATE FOR THE OPENING OF THE BIDS AS DESCRIBED HEREIN. NOTICE OF SUCH CHANGE SHALL BE PROVIDED NOT LESS THAN 24 HOURS PRIOR TO THE TIME SET FORTH HEREIN FOR THE OPENING OF THE BIDS BY MEANS OF A SUPPLEMENTAL NOTICE OF SALE TRANSMITTED OVER THE TM3.

The Bonds will not be designated as “qualified tax-exempt obligations” pursuant to Section 265(b)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”).

Each bid must either (i) be addressed to the undersigned Commissioner of Finance, c/o Capital Markets Advisors, LLC, 11 Grace Avenue, Suite 308, Great Neck, New York 11021 and should be marked on the outside “Proposal for City of White Plains, New York Public Improvement Refunding Serial Bonds, 2020 Series B,” (ii) be received via facsimile transmission or (iii) be submitted electronically via Parity. No other form of electronic bidding service nor telephone proposals will be accepted. Once the proposals are communicated electronically via Parity or via facsimile, each bid will constitute an irrevocable offer to purchase the Bonds pursuant to the terms therein provided.

Prospective bidders wishing to submit an electronic bid via Parity must be contracted customers of Parity. Prospective bidders who do not have a contract with Parity must call (212) 849-5021 to become a customer. By submitting an electronic bid for the Bonds, a bidder represents and warrants that such bidder’s bid for the purpose of the Bonds is submitted for and on behalf of such prospective bidder by an offer or agent who is duly authorized to bind the bidder to a legal, valid and enforceable contract for the purchase of the Bonds.

Each prospective bidder who wishes to submit electronic bids shall be solely responsible to register to bid via Parity. Each qualified prospective bidder shall be solely responsible to make necessary arrangements to access Parity for purposes of submitting its bid in a timely manner and in compliance with the requirements of this Notice of Sale. Neither the City nor Parity shall have any duty or obligation to undertake such registration to bid for any prospective bidder or to provide or assure such access to any qualified prospective bidder, and neither the City nor Parity shall be responsible for a bidder’s failure to register to bid or for proper operation of, or have any liability for any delays or interruptions of, or any damages caused by Parity. The City is using Parity as a communications mechanism, and not as the City’s agent, to conduct the electronic bidding for the City’s bonds. The City is not bound by any advice or determination of Parity as to whether any bid complies with the terms of this Notice of Sale. All costs and expenses incurred by prospective bidders in connection with their registration and submission of bids via Parity are the sole responsibility of the bidders, and the City is not responsible, directly or indirectly, for any such costs or expenses. If a prospective bidder encounters any difficulty in registering to bid, or submitting or modifying a bid for the Bonds, it should telephone Parity and notify the City’s financial advisor, Capital Markets Advisors, LLC at 516-364-6363 (provided that the City shall have no obligation to take any action whatsoever upon receipt of such notice).

If any provisions of this Notice of Sale shall conflict with information provided by Parity, as approved provider of electronic bidding services, the provisions of this Notice of Sale shall control.

Further, information about Parity, including any fee charged, may be obtained from Parity at (212) 849-5021. The time maintained by Parity shall constitute the official time with respect to all bids submitted.

By submitting a bid, each bidder is certifying that its bid is a firm offer to purchase the Bonds, is a good faith offer which the bidder believes reflects current market conditions, and is not a “courtesy bid” being submitted for the purpose of assisting in meeting the competitive sale requirements relating to the establishment of the “issue price” of the Bonds pursuant to Section 148 of the Code, including the requirement that bids be received from at least three (3) underwriters of municipal bonds who have established industry reputations for underwriting new issuances of municipal bonds (the “Competitive Sale Requirements”). The Municipal Advisor will advise the winning bidder if the Competitive Sale Requirements were met at the same time it notifies the winning bidder of the award of the Bonds.

The winning bidder shall, within one (1)