Howard County, MD
$30,000,000 Master Lease Facility
MRA presented Howard County, MD (“County”), rated ‘AAA/Aaa/AAA’ by all three entities, with the opportunity to establish a Tax-Exempt Master Lease Program. Like most issuers the County had historically financed its recurring capital needs through its annual general obligation borrowing. After several meetings and education sessions over the next year, the County established a $30MM Master Lease facility in the spring of 2013.
As the County entered into the budget process for FY2015 – 2016 the administration projected reduced revenues and the need for expense reductions over the next two to three fiscal years. As such, the administration also decided to cap general obligation new money borrowing to no more than $90MM per year for each of the next two to three fiscal years. Thus, the existence of the Master Lease will allow the County to finance certain capital needs outside of the annual general obligation borrowing.