DALLAS - Texas Department of Transportation chief financial officer James Bass will head the agency as interim executive director when Phil Wilson leaves on Jan. 17, according to the board that runs TxDOT.
Wilson announced last month that he was resigning as TxDOT executive director to head the Lower Colorado River Authority as general manager.
Bass, who has directed billions of dollars of bond deals as CFO, has overseen TxDOT finances through one of the most turbulent periods in its history.
Faced with falling revenues and growing demands for new roads, Bass worked with the Texas Legislature and Gov. Rick Perry to find new funding mechanisms, including tolling and new loan-guarantee programs for local toll authorities and governments.
Bass serves as president of the Grand Parkway Transportation Corp., created by the Texas Transportation Commission to manage financing for a 189-mile loop around the Houston metro area known as Grand Parkway.
The GPTC issued $2.86 billion of debt in 2013, representing the largest bond deal of the year in Texas.
The financing of the parkway involves five series of bonds, four of which are backed by a financial guarantee from TxDOT known as a "toll equity loan agreement" or TELA. The first 15-mile segment of the Grand Parkway opened Jan. 1.
