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THE <br />TRUST <br />FOR <br />PUBLIC <br />LAND <br />Memorandum <br />In 2004, the voters of Indian. River County approved a referendum to continue the county's land <br />conservation program and issue an additional $50 million for land acquisition. Historic and <br />agricultural lands were added to the approved purchases under this referendum, whereas the <br />initial 1992 bond referendum only authorized acquisition of environmental lands. In June 2006, <br />Indian River County issued the 2006 Series Limited General Obligation Bonds in the principal <br />amount of $48,600,000 at an average interest rate of 4.22% (true interest cost) for land <br />conservation. On February 17, 2015 the Board of County Commissioners approved refunding the <br />bonds using a bank loan in order to save. approximately $1.1 million dollars, or 6.05% of the <br />refunded amount. The bank loan provided a lower borrowing cost at 1.84%, reduced the annual <br />debt service by $170,000, and allowed for a modest reduction in the ad valorem millage rate. <br />These bonds are due to mature in 2021. All funds have been spent/committed. <br />810 <br />Total Debt Outstanding At Fiscal Year Ends <br />■ Land Aeq. 2015 <br />0 Spring Training 2001 <br />■ Water & Sewer 2015 <br />2020 2021 2022 2027 2024 2025 <br />Florida History of Conservation Finance <br />The State of Florida authorizes local <br />communities to use various revenue <br />sources for parks and recreation <br />purposes including property taxes, sales <br />and use taxes, general obligation bonds, <br />and the creation of special districts. <br />Voters approved 82 percent of local <br />conservation finance measures (75 of <br />92) on the ballot in Florida between 1996 <br />and 2019. General obligation bonds are <br />the most popular public finance mechanism in Florida for parks and conservation. The table to the <br />right illustrates the number and type of conservation finance measures that have gone before <br />voters over the past 23 years. For recent park and land conservation measures on the ballot in <br />Fiscal Year <br />20#0 <br />Local Conservation Finance Mechanisms <br />Summary of local ballot measures from 1996 <br />in Florida <br />- 2019 <br />t # <br /># <br />Mechanism 1 Passed <br />Failed <br />I Total <br />Passed <br />Bond 52 7 <br />59 <br />88% <br />Sales Tax 14 8 <br />Property Tax 7 2 <br />Other* 2 0 <br />22 <br />9 <br />2 <br />64% <br />78% <br />100% <br />Total 75 17 <br />92 <br />82% <br />*Budget allocations : <br />Source: TPL LandVote Database (measures that include $ for land conservation.) <br />5 <br />