 
Seven counties in the Hudson Valley region and the city of Yonkers have been allocated a total of more than $153 million in bond funding for economic development projects through the U.S. Department of the Treasury”™s Recovery Zone Bonds program.
Created by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the stimulus bonds are targeted to areas of high unemployment and will help municipalities obtain financing for public infrastructure and other development projects. Treasury officials said $25 billion is available nationwide through the program.
“Creating the conditions for economic recovery requires addressing the challenges facing state and local governments,” Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said in a statement. “State budgets have been scaled back and local services cut at a time when they are most needed. ”¦ The new financing tools provided by Recovery Zone Bonds will help state and local governments obtain the funds needed to revitalize our communities.”
The Recovery Zone program includes $10 billion for economic development bonds and $15 billion for facility bonds.
The taxable economic development bonds are included in the new Build America Bonds program and allow lower borrowing costs for state and local governments through direct federal subsidy payments to issuers that amount to 45 percent of the interest. Treasury officials said they can be used to finance a broad range of qualified projects, such as job training and educational programs.
Facility bonds are traditional tax-exempt private activity bonds used by private businesses in designated recovery zones to finance a broad range of depreciable capital projects, excluding rental housing construction.
New York state”™s total bond allocation for recovery zone projects is $925,245,000. Yonkers, where an estimated $160 million in bonding will be needed for public infrastructure improvements tied to the Struever Fidelco Cappelli L.L.C. downtown redevelopment project, has been allocated $5,301,000 in economic development bonds and $7,951,000 in facility bonds. Westchester County can issue recovery bonds for up to $22,334,000 for economic development projects and $33,501,000 for private capital projects.
Westchester County spokeswoman Victoria Hochman said county officials will identify potential projects before determining whether it will benefit the county to issue the taxable Recovery Zone bonds rather than the county”™s own tax-free bonds. With an AAA bond rating, the county already is “in a good position” in the market, she said. “So at this point we are still weighing all our options.”
Recovery bond allocation caps for other county governments in the Hudson Valley are:
Orange, $25,041,000; Dutchess, $20,410,000; Ulster, $14,722,000; Rockland, $14,287,000;
Putnam, $7,878,000 and Sullivan, $2,027,000.
