MEDIA ADVISORY

County of Orange Receives Bond Buyer Award

SANTA ANA—The County of Orange will receive an award presented by the Bond Buyer Newspaper as part of the paper’s annual “Bond Buyer’s Deal of the Year.” The esteemed award recognizes the county’s unique and innovative use of public financing, which has proven vital in its economic recovery since the County’s declared bankruptcy in 1994.

County of Orange Supervisor James W. Silva and County of Orange Public Finance Manager Thomas Beckett will accept the award this evening in a New York City ceremony for the $146 million of Refunding Recovery Bonds, Series 2005A and the Orange County Public Financing Authority’s $419.8 million of Lease Revenue Refunding Bonds, Series 2005.

Supervisor Silva has been a driving force in the bankruptcy’s closure ten years earlier than previously anticipated through his work in securing non-core budget funds in the Debt Defeasance Account.

As the Debt Defeasance Account grew to $119 million before being used to pay down the highest-yielding bonds first, the refinance will ultimately save the taxpayers of Orange County over $500 million.

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