The Local Government Commission (LGC) today approved requests from the city of Raleigh (Wake County) to issue $221 million in bonds to support its 17-story City Hall across the street from historic Nash Square and to support other public safety buildings.
The project will consolidate most of the capital city’s downtown workforce, currently spread around multiple office buildings, into a 370,000-square-foot building. The goal is to make public services more convenient, efficient and accessible.
LGC members voted in favor of $120 million in limited obligation bond anticipation notes, a type of municipal debt that does not require referendums or public approval. Proceeds will be used for City Hall work and various fire, public safety and other administrative building improvements.
A second request was approved to issue $101 million in limited obligation bonds. Proceeds will be used to refinance a 2024 installment financing agreement that paid for initial costs of the East Civic Tower project, along with various public safety and other municipal projects. The move will replace an existing variable rate loan with a fixed rate.
Also approved was a request from Raleigh to issue $18.5 million in limited obligation bonds to refund an outstanding 2016 bond series that was used to pay for a fire station and improvements to a performing arts center.
State Treasurer Brad Briner chairs the LGC. The Commission is staffed by the Department of State Treasurer (DST) and has a statutory duty to approve most debt issued by units of local government and public authorities in the state. The Commission examines whether the amount of money units borrow is adequate and reasonable for proposed projects and confirms the governmental units can reasonably afford to repay the debt. It also monitors the financial well-being of more than 1,100 local government units.
Among other items on the agenda that received favorable votes was a request from Carolina Beach (New Hanover County) to issue $35 million in revenue bonds. Proceeds will fund improvement and expansion of the town’s water, sewer and stormwater facilities. Some of the bond proceeds will be used to refund outstanding revenue bonds. Water, sewer rates and stormwater fees would increase in fiscal year 2027 through fiscal year 2030.
LGC members gave a green light to the N.C. Housing Finance Agency to issue $25 million in multifamily housing revenue bonds that will be used to develop 100 low- to moderate-income rental units on Atlantic Court in Kannapolis (Cabarrus and Rowan counties). The financial instrument is a conduit revenue bond, which allows proceeds to be loaned to a third party, in this case Westgreen Preservation, a North Carolina limited partnership developing Westgreen Apartments.
In another matter, the LGC designated several local government units as “distressed.” They are Anson County, and the towns of Bridgeton (Craven County), Red Springs (Robeson County), Stedman (Cumberland County) and Walnut Cove (Stokes County). The State Water Infrastructure Authority, staffed by the state Department of Environmental Quality, voted in December to designate those units as distressed.
The designations by SWIA and LGC are pursuant to assessment criteria related to providing drinking water services, wastewater services, or both. A distressed designation makes the governmental units eligible for grant money under the state’s Viable Utility Reserve statute to fund studies, to regionalize utilities, rehabilitate existing infrastructure or to decentralize a system into smaller, viable parts. The LGC did not consider any VUR grants at today’s meeting.