Arizona completes sale-leaseback deals for state properties to get cash to pay bills
By APThursday, January 14, 2010
Arizona completes sales-leaseback deals for cash
PHOENIX — The state has completed sale-leaseback financing deals for state properties to get cash needed to pay Arizona’s bills through February.
Department of Administration spokesman Alan Ecker says the state successfully sold a planned $735 million of certificates of participation on the municipal bond market on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The sale-leaseback financing effectively constitutes borrowing, using prisons and other state properties as collateral.
The Legislature and Gov. Jan Brewer included the sale-leaseback mechanism in its current $8.4 billion budget, which still faces a shortfall of at least $1.4 billion.
The Department of Administration has said it expects to get the $735 million by Jan. 26, in time to pay February paychecks and other bills.
