The City of Santa Clarita recently announced that over $13 million dollars in tax-exempt bond monies have been made available to the city in what is being called the Recovery Zone Facility Bond (RZFB) program. These bond opportunities were made available to the City of Santa Clarita as a result of President Obama’s American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA) with the hopes of investing in private projects that would benefit the community.
In a recent city press release Mayor Laurene Weste said, “The RZFB presents a great opportunity for local businesses looking to upgrade their infrastructure or expand their existing operations.” Weste continues, “This is also another great tool for the City to help attract new businesses to Santa Clarita and create more jobs for our local residents.”
As part of the 21—Point Business Plan for Progress, approved by the Santa Clarita City Council in April of this year, the City has pursued many opportunities that would assist our local business community during these tough economic times and succeed well beyond economic recovery. The RZFB bond program is just one of the ways the City is working to achieve these goals. The RZFB program provides businesses with access to tax-exempt bonds normally reserved for governments and a small sector of private businesses. RZFBs can be used in place of conventional financing and provide a lower interest rate. Projects with a significant impact to the local job market are also more likely to be approved for funding. Denise Lellan, Administrative Analyst for the City of Santa Clarita’s Economic Development division says that, “Our goal is to fund one or more project(s) that have a substantial impact on the Santa Clarita Community, including the creation of new, permanent, and high-quality jobs. This program was created as a result of the ARRA and as such any project funded through this program must achieve a significant level of job creation.”
To be eligible for these bonds, businesses must be located within the City-Designated Recovery Zone, which boundaries have been identified and approved by the Santa Clarita City Council. See the Recovery Zone map to determine which businesses qualify as part of the zone.
Although these bonds are not required to be issued until December 31, 2010, the State of California requires each jurisdiction participating in the RZFB program to submit a plan of issuance in January of 2010. “The city is under a tight deadline to determine which projects may take advantage of this program,” commented Mayor Weste. “Interested businesses are encouraged to contact the City as soon as possible to discuss their project.”
For more information regarding the RZFB program, contact Denise Lellan, Administrative Analyst for the City’s Economic Development division, at 661-284-1411 or dlellan@santa-clarita.com .