FFM Follow Up: City Council votes to publicly release previously withheld analysis of financial risks-- Despite a memo from the city’s bond counsel warning of “substantial risks”, the Gaylord City Council has voted to guarantee to pay up to 16.5 percent of the debt service on $77 million of revenue bonds should the proposed RS Fiber telecom network fail to pay for itself. The bond risk analysis …
municipal bonds
Gaylord Officials Keep Report Secret on Risk to Taxpayers with $70 Million Telecom Network
--Officials in the city of Gaylord have informed the Freedom Foundation of Minnesota (FFM) they will not make public a key analysis of the potential financial risks posed by a plan to invest $70 million in bonding for the RS Fiber telecom network. Proponents of the municipal broadband project expect RS Fiber to start paying for itself after three or four years. If not, …
Monticello Stops Bond Payments on Troubled Municipal Telecom
Is city headed toward default of $26 million in bonds? The City of Monticello has notified bondholders that it plans to stop repayment of $26 million in bonds for the troubled FiberNet Monticello telecom system, due to a shortfall in operating revenue from telecom subscribers. This development marks the most dramatic step yet in the downturn for what was once a …
[Read more...] about Monticello Stops Bond Payments on Troubled Municipal Telecom