The California Public Securities Association has announced it will conduct a study tracking the fiscal health of special tax bonds sold under the state's Mello-Roos Community Facilities Act.
The association, made up of underwriters and tax-exempt bond dealers in California, has contracted with FRA Services of Costa Mesa, Calif., to update information on Mello-Roos bonds and provide new data.
The study will be released in three months.
"This information will replace press stories and rumors with facts and permit the marketplace to evaluate more accurately the credit risks associated with Mello-Roos bonds," said Owen Perron, chairman of the group. Local governments in California have sold more than $3.5 billion of Mello-Roos bond since 1982 to finance infrastructure-related needs such as streets, sewers, parks, and schools.
