BRADENTON, Fla. — Florida’s Santa Rosa Bay Bridge Authority has scheduled a meeting April 10 but a resolution to the agency’s ongoing default on $131.2 million of current- and capital-appreciation bonds is not expected to be on the agenda.
Four members of the board, the minimum required for a quorum, have agreed to meet in order to act on routine matters, board chairman Morgan Lamb said in an email.
Under the SRBBA’s enabling legislation, all four members must vote affirmatively to take action on matters.
Lamb said “nothing earth shaking at all” is expected to be considered.
The board will discuss matters such as letters that have been received, funding for the authority’s website, and other items from the SRBBA’s last meeting, which was about seven months ago, he said.
Meanwhile, bondholders still remain somewhat in limbo since the Garcon Point toll road in northwest Florida experienced its first payment default on July 1, 2011.
At the beginning of this year, Bank of New York accelerated debt payments due to ongoing defaults, and declared the $131.2 million of bonds due for immediate payment.
The Bridge Authority has not had an audit since 2000. At the last meeting in September, the board discussed seeking proposals to determine how much it would cost to bring the agency’s audits up to date.
A restructuring of the defaulted bond could not occur without a current audit, the board was told.
It is not clear if that issue is scheduled for discussion at next month’s meeting. The agenda is not yet available.
The SRBBA issued $75.5 million of Series A current interest toll revenue bonds in 1996 that mature in 2028, and $19.4 million of Series B capital appreciation bonds maturing between 2005 and 2028 to build the tolled 3.5-mile-long Garcon Point Bridge in northwest Florida.
The two-lane toll road never met traffic projections and the authority dipped into reserves for years to make up debt service shortages.
None of the bonds were insured in the primary sale, though some were insured in the secondary market by investors.
The insured CABs appear to be trading somewhat frequently. Last Monday, a customer sold $10,000 of bonds insured by National Public Finance Guarantee that mature in 2019 for about 65 cents on the dollar to yield 7%.
An uninsured CAB last traded Dec. 5 when a customer bought $20,000 of the bonds for 15 cents on the dollar. No yield was listed for the purchase.
ACA Financial Guaranty Corp. insured $47.7 million in the secondary market of the original $75 million current-interest bonds that were sold with a single maturity in 2028. A customer sold $55,000 of ACA-insured bonds on March 12 at 64.4 cents on the dollar at a yield of 11.14%.
No yields are listed on the latest trades of uninsured current interest bonds. A customer sold $25,000 on March 8 at 42.7 cents on the dollar.
