Lowell, Arkansas is located in the Northwest part of the state among industry giants such as Wal-Mart, JB Hunt and Tyson Foods as well as the University of Arkansas, the state’s flagship university. One of the few cities in Arkansas to use the Tax Increment Financing (“TIF”) legislation to provide capital improvements, the City engaged an underwriter for the initial TIF. However, the financing structure by the previous underwriter had a balloon payment due three years later, forcing the City to either provide monies from the general fund to pay off the debt, or create a new funding vehicle.
Crews provided an alternative to the City. While still enjoying the growth of the TIF District, Crews structured the new bond issue by pledging franchise fees, thus eliminating the need to pay the debt off from general funds. Crews further created a mechanism to release the pledge of franchise fees, thus allowing the City flexibility in the future for other needed capital improvements.
Crews worked hard to serve our client in extraordinary ways by: