Debt Ceilings Raised

State lawmakers gave New York’s two main housing bond issuers and an upstate development authority higher debt limits last week.

The bills now go to Gov. David Paterson for his signature.

Legislators approved $1 billion debt limit increases for the New York State Housing Finance Agency and the New York City Housing Development Corp. The two issuers are conduit issuers that sell tax-exempt bonds on behalf of housing developers. The HFA also sells state personal income tax bonds.

Pending the governor’s approval, the HFA would see its debt cap boosted to $13.78 billion. The Legislature raised the HDC’s to $8.75 billion.

The HFA has $8.55 billion of bonds outstanding and the HDC has $6.6 billion. The Legislature also approved an increase for the Schenectady Metroplex Development Authority’s bonding cap to $75 million from $50 million. The limit was set when the agency was created in 1998 and has about $45 million of bonds outstanding.

A bill that would have allowed Westchester County to start a pilot program to accept electronic bids on its bonds sales did not pass.

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