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The City of Seattle
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An ordinance relating to the financing of the Seattle Center Revitalization Program; creating the Seattle Center UTGO Bond Fund; authorizing the loan of funds in the amount of $3,221,341 from the Real Estate Excise Tax I Capital Projects Fund and/or the Real Estate Excise Tax II Capital Projects Fund to the Seattle Center UTGO Bond Fund as bridge financing for the Seattle Center Revitalization Program; and ratifying and confirming certain prior acts.
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Recitals:
Seattle Center served as the site for the 1962 World’s Fair (Century 21 Exposition) and remains a popular cultural destination for the city.
Much of the Seattle Center campus’s infrastructure including electrical, plumbing, and life safety systems are now more than 60 years old and have reached the end of their useful lives or become obsolete.
The Seattle City Council, through passage of Resolution 32205, endorsed the creation of a 2027 ballot measure to fund the Seattle Center Revitalization Program (Program), subject to the approval by Seattle voters.
Pursuant to Resolution 32205, the City is considering the use of general obligation bonds to finance the Program, and current proposals involve seeking voter approval during 2027 for this debt to be issued as unlimited tax general obligation (UTGO) bonds.
The City anticipates that, if voter approval of the UTGO ballot measure is obtained in 2027, following the passage of the bond measure, the City will seek City Council authorization in 2027 to amend the term and amount of this interfund loan based on information available at that time, with the anticipation that UTGO bonds would be issued in 2028 following additional action by the City Council authorizing the bonds.
The City currently anticipates that, if the UTGO ballot measure were to not proceed to the ballot, or not be approved by voters, the Real Estate Excise Tax (REET) I Capital Projects Fund and/or the REET II Capital Projects Fund would have sufficient funds available for this purpose to repay this interfund loan, or the interfund loan could be repaid by other City funds, which could include the proceeds of non-voted bonds, as the City deems appropriate.
Seattle Municipal Code subsection 5.06.030.C requires City Council approval by ordinance of any interfund loan for a duration of 90 days or more.
In the normal course of business, the City may temporarily lend cash between funds to maintain required balances.
The Director of Finance and the City Budget Director have determined that this interfund loan request is consistent with the Debt Management Policies adopted by Resolution 31553.
There is sufficient cash in the REET I Capital Projects Fund and/or the REET II Capital Projects Fund to support an interfund loan of up to $3,221,341 through December 31, 2027 and still meet regular budgeted expenditures.
Funds loaned by the REET I Capital Projects Fund and/or the REET II Capital Projects Fund to the Seattle Center UTGO Bond Fund for the Program through December 31, 2027 are anticipated to be repaid from future UTGO bond proceeds. Therefore,
Be it ordained by The City of Seattle as follows:
Section 1. A new Seattle Center UTGO Bond Fund is created in the City Treasury, into which the principal proceeds and any premium received from the sale and delivery of UTGO bonds in 2028 shall be deposited for the purpose of paying all or part of the costs of various elements of the City’s capital improvement program included in the Program, and other City purposes approved by ordinance. The Fund shall receive earnings on its positive balances and pay interest on its negative balances. The Director of Finance is authorized to create other Accounts or Subaccounts as may be needed.
Section 2. The Director of Finance is authorized to make a non-revolving loan of up to $3,221,341 principal and interest outstanding from REET I Capital Projects Fund or the REET II Capital Projects Fund to the Seattle Center UTGO Bond Fund, created by Section 1 of this ordinance, to provide bridge financing for expenditures related to the Program (MC-SC-S1999) intended to be financed by authorized UTGO bond proceeds. The loan is to be repaid, or amended by Council action to adjust the term and/or amount of the loan, no later than December 31, 2027, with interest on the loan at the rate of return of the City’s Consolidated Cash Pool.
Section 3. The Director of Finance may effectuate the loan authorized in this ordinance by transferring cash to the Seattle Center UTGO Bond Fund from the REET I Capital Projects Fund and/or the REET II Capital Projects Fund, or by carrying the Seattle Center UTGO Bond Fund in a negative cash position, in a total amount not to exceed $3,221,341 until no later than December 31, 2027. The Director of Finance is further authorized to establish, and modify if necessary, from time to time, a repayment plan and schedule.
Section 4. Any act consistent with the authority of this ordinance taken after its passage and prior to its effective date is ratified and confirmed.
This ordinance shall take effect as provided by Seattle Municipal Code Sections 1.04.020 and 1.04.070.
Passed by the City Council and signed in open session in authentication of its passage on .
President of the City Council
on .
Katie B. Wilson, Mayor
Lenné Dedman, City Clerk