Here's how broke Detroit plans to finance the Woodward Light Rail project

Exclusive scoopage, but you have to be a subscriber to read. I pasted the top of the story below. The city council will be discussing the proposal this week.

Link

Rail plan: Use fed funds to get fed funds: Bond sale to help raise local match

By Bill Shea
Detroit Mayor Dave Bing's administration has crafted a plan to divert some of the city's annual federal capital transportation grant funding to back bonds that will pay for Detroit's share of a $500 million light-rail system on Woodward Avenue.

The deal, which has federal approval, allows the cash-strapped city to arrange required local-match funding without actually using local money.

The plan is to issue up to $125 million in Capital Grant Receipts Revenue Bonds to reach the 40 percent local funding match threshold required to trigger federal payment of the remainder of the rail project.

...or you can just copy the headline, put it into Google, and click the first link and read it for free. I've used that tactic for years - even told someone at Crain's how I can do that last year on the phone. At this point I just get a kick out of it.

For the record, I do get the actual hard copy at work.

The only motivation behind this, is securing the federal funding. Federal funding is at risk with budget cutbacks. While the government continues to spend aimlessly on the 'stimulus bill,' long-time programs of departments like the FTA will suffer. Projects like Woodward Light Rail face the prospect of losing out on the funding if they don't secure it before it is taken away. This move merely makes sure the local money is there for the match sooner. If we miss out on the federal money, even a significant portion of it can spell doom for the entire project.

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Originally Posted by stinkytofu

...or you can just copy the headline, put it into Google, and click the first link and read it for free. I've used that tactic for years - even told someone at Crain's how I can do that last year on the phone. At this point I just get a kick out of it.

For the record, I do get the actual hard copy at work.

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It's not just Crain's that works that way. You can read all of the Wall Street Journal stuff that they put behind the paywall using the same method.

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Originally Posted by esp1986

The only motivation behind this, is securing the federal funding. Federal funding is at risk with budget cutbacks. While the government continues to spend aimlessly on the 'stimulus bill,' long-time programs of departments like the FTA will suffer. Projects like Woodward Light Rail face the prospect of losing out on the funding if they don't secure it before it is taken away. This move merely makes sure the local money is there for the match sooner. If we miss out on the federal money, even a significant portion of it can spell doom for the entire project.

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The feds are very interested in seeing this particular project get funded. They have staff in town working with DDOT to fast-track everything, cutting down the process from three years to one. Ray LaHood didn't come here for a project that wasn't going to get federal money love.

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Originally Posted by BShea

The feds are very interested in seeing this particular project get funded. They have staff in town working with DDOT to fast-track everything, cutting down the process from three years to one. Ray LaHood didn't come here for a project that wasn't going to get federal money love.

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Exactly. Everyone knows what's at stake, and what will happen without that funding. They are pushing this as fast as possible so everything gets secured before major changes are made at the federal level.

The biggest hurdle facing this project, is simply breaking ground. Once it begins, it can be expanded at will as the money is available. SEMCOG is already studying feasibility on the Woodward Corridor in Oakland County. The problem in the past is that the projects never come to fruition. This time, everything seems to be in place except the money. The biggest worry is that a shovel will never hit the ground, given the past attempts. Once that happens, there will be a lot of relief among those involved.