BRADENTON, Fla. — A Florida grand jury will consider whether to investigate a court building costing $47 million that was financed largely with tax-exempt bonds.
The grand jury will be presented with a complaint concerning the project during its deliberations on Wednesday.
The controversial new 110,000-square-foot courthouse is nearing completion in Tallahassee, the state capital, for the First District Court of Appeal.
The project has come under fire because of plans to include lavish furnishings and fixtures such as 60-inch LCD televisions — one each for the 15 judges and five for other offices.
It is being called a “Taj Mahal” and has generated a lot of finger pointing among politicians who were in office at the time it was approved in 2007. Some of the politicians are running for reelection to the Legislature or are seeking higher offices.
Three weeks ago, Florida Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink ordered a comprehensive audit of funds spent by the state on the facility, including bond proceeds.
“If the Legislature approved the spending of scarce state funds on palatial accommodations at a single courthouse, the people of Florida have a right to know how this situation came about and just how much it’s costing them,” Sink said when she announced the audit.
Some $36.6 million of facilities pool revenue bonds were competitively sold in 2008 to finance most of the project.
The serial bonds mature from 2010 to 2038, with yields ranging from 2.33% with a 3.5% coupon in 2010 to 5.05% with a 5% coupon in 2023 to 5.7% with a 5.62% coupon in 2036. A $4.58 million term bond sold with a yield of 5.8% and a 5.75% coupon.
Bond proceeds provided $33.5 million for construction with the remainder being used for costs of issuance and a debt service reserve. The Legislature provided another $13.4 million from the state’s general revenue fund for the project.
The bonds originally were rated AA by Fitch Ratings, Aa2 by Moody’s Investors Service, and AA-plus by Standard & Poor’s.
Fitch upgraded its rating to AA-plus during recalibrations earlier this year.
