The County Voice

California Statewide Community Development Authority – Accept no Substitute

By Paul McIntosh on February 22nd, 2012

For almost 25 years CSCDA (California Statewide Communities Development Authority), a joint powers authority sponsored by CSAC and the League of California Cities, has provided conduit bond financing for public benefit projects such as non-profit hospitals, multi-family low and moderate income housing, schools and other projects. CSCDA was founded by CSAC and the League of California Cities to enable local government and eligible private entities access to low cost, tax-exempt financing for projects that provide a tangible public benefit, contribute to social and economic growth and improve the overall quality of life in local communities throughout California. CSCDA has issued more than $48.3 billion through 1,340 financings since 1988 and consistently ranks in the top 10 of more than 3,000 nationwide public issuers of tax-exempt debt, as measured by annual issuance amount.

CSCDA has enjoyed remarkable success in part due to the sponsorship, oversight and governance provided by CSAC and the League. Revenues generated by our support of CSCDA and our other sponsored programs provide a significant portion of CSAC’s budget. Because we have reliable non-dues revenue, we are able to provide our members with exceptional representation before the Administration and the Legislature without asking you to cover the true cost of our efforts. As a result, membership dues are approximately 50% of what they would be if we did not have these programs. That means a portion of issuance fees paid to CSCDA directly fund our efforts to represent you on issues such as realignment, pension reform and redevelopment.

Recently, others have begun marketing similar services claiming to be “just like CSCDA” and offering to share a percentage of their issuance fees with the county or city where the financing is completed. In reality these entities do not operate like CSCDA. They do not provide the complete and total transparency of a Board of Directors comprised of current and retired county and city managers and fiscal officers who are subject to the Brown Act. Their fees are typically significantly higher than those of CSCDA. The small rebates they offer are miniscule when compared to the millions of dollars CSCDA has contributed over the last 25 years to CSAC and the League.

All California counties benefit from every project that CSCDA does – regardless of where it is actually completed. I encourage you to make CSCDA your first choice for your finance, economic development and housing financings and to share this information with all of those in your organization who work on these activities.

For more information on the benefits CSCDA offers click here and here. If you have additional questions please contact CSAC Finance Corporation Executive Director Nancy Parrish at nparrish@counties.org or CSCDA Project Manager Jon Penkower at jpenkower@cacommunities.org.

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