Announcements

The first-ever honoree in the P3 category is Transurban’s 95 Express Lanes for $262 million of Senior Lien Revenue Bonds, issued by VSBFA, to fund its 10-mile Fredericksburg Extension project.

The San Diego Association of Governments’ $331 million capital grants receipts revenue bond sale is the honoree in the Far West.

The Health Care winner is the $6.5 billion CommonSpirit Health financing, the largest ever by a not-for-profit health system.

The Battery Park City Authority claimed the Northeast crown for its $673 million offering for resilience projects in a neighborhood devastated by Superstorm Sandy in 2012.

The Southwest recipient is the City of Austin’s $464.5 million offering of taxable revenue bonds to fund its acquisition of a biomass-fired power plant for the city’s electric utility.

The inaugural winner in the ESG/Green category is the L.A. County MTA's $545 million offering of sales tax revenue bonds, which included $418.5 million second-party-verified green bonds.

Each of the 10 category winners named is now eligible for the national Deal of the Year Award, which will be announced at the Dec. 4 gala.

Henry Dachowitz, accepting the Midwest award on behalf of the Michigan Finance Authority, said Wayne County avoided bankruptcy and now has a rainy day fund of more than $100 million.

Mike Hall, accepting the Southeast award on behalf of the state of West Virginia, said although the state is often joked about, "Our pension system is strong."

Steve Huser, accepting the Health Care award on behlaf of Advocate Aurora Health, said the $300 million in savings is "Money that we can now use to reinvest in health care delivery."

Jenine Windeshausen, accepting on behalf of the Non-Traditional winner, Placer County PFA, said she was "pleased and proud of our team."

Eric Lieder, accepting the Far West award for the California MFA, said the road show "was one of the more exciting things I've done."

Dale Scott, accepting the award for Small Issuer, Jefferson UHSD, said since teachers can't afford to live in the communities where they teach, schools "cannot attract and retain the best and the brightest."

Brendan Hanlon, Denver CFO, says this deal "wasn't always something that was uniformly thought of as a good idea."

Pat McCoy, of the New York MTA, accepting the Northeast award on behalf of the Triborough Bridge & Tunnel Authority, said, "The MTA is not going away."

Photos from The Bond Buyer's annual gala honoring exemplary public finance transactions and Trailblazing Women in Public Finance.

Denver City and County CFO Brendan Hanlon said proactive investment in public infrastructure is extremely important.

Katano Kasaine, director of finance for the City of Oakland, Calif., and winner of this year’s Freda Johnson Award for Trailblazing Women in Public Finance, says we must continue to work for women's equality.

Noreen White, co-founder of Acacia Financial Group and winner of this year’s Freda Johnson Award for Trailblazing Women in Public Finance, speaks about diversity in the public finance sector — and how firms can hire the best and brightest women and people of color.

Wayne County's $288 million sale for its new $500 million criminal justice complex was fraught with hurdles dating back nearly a decade.