Call to Action: Council of Bond Oversight (COBO) to hear OTA Application for an additional $1.6 BILLION in Revenue Bonds

That will have a deficit cash flow approaching $10 billion over the thirty-year life of the bonds

Dec 05, 2024

We received a notification of a rescheduled regular meeting agenda from the Council of Bond Oversight (COBO) for Thursday, December 5th at 10 am. On the agenda was an Oklahoma Turnpike Authority request for COBO approval of up to $1,175,860,725 Second Senior Revenue Bonds, Series 2025A and up to $456,070,000 Refunding Second Senior Revenue Bonds, Series 2025B.

That’s over $1.6 BILLION DOLLARS more in revenue bond sales…. on top of the $500 MILLION they got back in October of 2023.

The meeting is at 10 am in the Oklahoma State Capitol MP Room 100 on Thursday, December 5th. That’s TOMORROW.

Please come to the meeting and support our objections and request for postponement of the $1.6 BILLION DOLLAR revenue bond sale.

You can wear whatever you’d like, including business attire, or a PIKE OFF OTA or Oklahomans for Responsible Transportation t-shirt and jeans. You can even bring signs. I’m sure the crew will try and get lunch somewhere afterward.

Is the fix already in?

We submitted an official Open Record Request (ORR) to COBO on Friday, November 15th at 2:15 pm (TWENTY days ago), requesting that we get the OTA’s application material to review prior to the COBO Rubber Stamp Club’s meeting.

Not surprisingly, our ORR was never granted.

On the eve of this meeting, does the COBO board even have the application packet to review yet?

You know.. the application for $1.6 BILLION dollars in revenue bonds for roadways that can NEVER PAY THEMSELVES OFF?

Do they even read those things before they cast their rubber stamped yes?

So many useful idiots in the cabal’s clutches.

Activate PIKE OFF OTA and OKLAHOMANS FOR RESPONSIBLE TRANSPORTATION

We found out about this request to approve $1.6 BILLION in revenue bond sales less than 48 hours prior to the meeting without any application to review even though it was requested TWENTY DAYS IN ADVANCE.

In true freeway fighting fashion, PIKE OFF OTA activated quickly and distilled our vast amount of data regarding the OTA’s ability to pay off these revenue bonds into two official objections from two different law firms, along with supporting financial documentation to the Attorney General, COBO and others.

Press Release

For Immediate Release 12-4-2024
“Too Many Red Flags to Approve a 1.5 Billion Dollar OTA Bond Issue Without Due Diligence”
Norman OK, December 12, 2024— “There are just too many red flags for the Council of Bond Oversight (COCB) to approve the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority’s 1.5-billion-dollar bond issue request that’s on their agenda for their December meeting,” stated Tassie Katherine Hirschfeld, Ph.D. a researcher for Oklahomans for Responsible Transportation.
Three objections to the OTA Bond request have been filed with COBO and links attached to this release.
COBO appears to be planning to rubber stamp a new $1.6 billion Turnpike Authority bond offering with no due diligence, putting investors at risk and unfairly penalizing Oklahoma drivers with exponential toll increases for projects that are not economically viable and appear doomed to fail.
Researchers at Oklahomans for Responsible Transportation have ascertained that the proposed ACCESS Oklahoma turnpike projects will have a deficit cash flow approaching $10 billion over the thirty-year life of the bonds, even before any operations or maintenance costs are added.
The proposed 2025 bond issue also violates several key clauses of the Authority’s master trust agreement, does not include required documentation from the consulting engineer, and outlines a disastrous financial plan that will force Oklahoma drivers to pay over $20 billion in debt service costs alone for highway projects that have been unanimously rejected by the city of Norman.
Oklahomans for Responsible Transportation requests that the Council of Bond Oversight postpone any decision on the proposed OTA bond offering until a full feasibility study and compliance review can be completed by an outside third party.
We also request that any future OTA bond offerings be postponed until the state auditor completes the investigative audit ordered by the Attorney General.

PIKE OFF OTA Financial Analysis

One of our amazing researchers who was a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) for an Oklahoma Muncipality in her former life put together this analysis for us, which was used by our lawyers to craft official objections to the OTA’s bond sale.

Official Objection and Call for Postponement

We are always working. Always digging. Always analyzing. Always fighting. It takes a strong VILLAGE to fight back against an agency with access to so much money.

This is one of our objections and calls for postponement that we submitted.