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New York City sells bonds to borrow the money needed to pay for
construction and repair of capital projects such as roads, bridges
and schools. The reason
the City borrows to pay for these projects is that they will last
for many years. Since future taxpayers will share in the benefit
of a school building for many years, it is reasonable that future
taxpayers help to pay for the construction.
The Comptroller shares with the Mayor the responsibility for issuing City General
Obligation bonds and notes. Working with the Mayors staff,
the Comptrollers Public Finance staff
determines and approves structures, terms, and conditions for all
city debt (please see Overview
of Bond Issuance for more information on the process of bond
issuance.) The Bureau also approves Transitional Finance Authority,
Water Authority, TSASC.,
Inc (borrowing against tobacco settlement proceeds), Housing Development
Corporation, Trust for Cultural Resources and Health and Hospitals
Corporation debt issues.
For residents of New York City, City bonds
are usually triple-tax exempt. That means that investors
who buy the bonds do not have to pay federal tax or New York State
or City income taxes on the interest they receive.
New York City does not sell bonds directly to the public, but sells
bonds through registered broker dealers.
Before purchasing a New York City bond, one should read the Citys
Official Statement, which includes more complete information on
the Citys finances. To obtain an Official Statement, please
contact one of the Nationally Recognized Municipal Securities Information
Repositories listed on this site, or contact our office directly.
General Obligation (GO) Bonds
GO bonds are backed by New York City property taxes, which are the largest single source of the City's revenue. The City expects to derive approximately 36% of its total tax revenues and 22% of its total revenue for fiscal year 2008 from real property taxes. The GO debt limit is equivalent to 10% of the five-year average full value of taxable real estate in New York City.
GO bonds are a major source of funding for the Citys capital
program, but bonds issued by the NYC
Transitional Finance Authority, the NYC
Municipal Water Finance Authority, TSASC, Inc., Dormitory
Authority of the State of New York and other conduit financing
also pay for capital projects.
Click a thumb-nail to view the full size image and description
for each portfolio. All data is as of of June 30, 2007.
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