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Learn about State of Oregon including our Sustainability Bonds, News & Press Releases, Projects, and Team.
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Learn about State of Oregon including our Sustainability Bonds, News & Press Releases, Projects, and Team.
About State of Oregon
- Approved Budget for 2023-25
- $121 billion
- Total General Obligation, Appropriation, and Revenue Debt Outstanding (as of June 30, 2021)
- $11.29 billion
- General Obligation Ratings
- Aa1/AA+/AA+
Oregon is a coastal state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. The State is known for its diverse landscape of farms, forests, mountains and beaches. Oregon’s population is approximately 4.2 million ranking 39th among U.S. states in terms of population density and 9th among U.S. states in terms of land mass. Oregon is the home of nine federally recognized native American Indian tribes. Salem, the State’s capital, is located in Marion County, one of 36 counties comprising the State of Oregon. The North American Beaver is Oregon’s State Animal and the State is commonly referred to as the Beaver State. Oregon boasts over 362 miles of coastline from its southern border of California to its northern border of Washington. The State has many historic landmarks, national forests and wildlife refuge. Some of the State’s natural attractions include the historic Columbia River Gorge, Multnomah Falls, the snow-capped Mount Hood, the wine country of the Willamette Valley, Crater Lake, Ankeny wildlife refuge and many others. Metro Portland, the state’s largest city by population, is famous for its quirky, avant-garde culture and is home to iconic coffee shops, boutiques, farm-to-table restaurants and microbreweries.
Visit Oregon’s Blue Book for our rich history, natural resources, economy and culture.
Bonds are issued by the State of Oregon to finance critical infrastructure needs of the state. The State Treasurer, by statute, is the issuer of all State of Oregon debt and issues bonds at the request of the state agencies as authorized by the legislature to issue debt. The Treasurer issues debt on behalf of the Department of Administrative Services (DAS), Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT), Oregon Business Development Department (OBDD), Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), Oregon Housing and Community Services Department (OHCSD), Oregon Department of Energy (ODE) and Oregon Department of Veterans Affairs (ODVA).
In addition, the Treasurer approves the issuance of housing conduit revenue bonds issued through OHCSD and non-profit conduit revenue bonds through Oregon Facilities Authority (OFA).
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Sustainability Bonds
Learn about our environmental, social, and governance program, and how we bring those values to life with green bonds, sustainable projects, and more.
News
Bond Buyer released it’s 2023 “Deal of the Year” announcement where the State of Oregon was recognized as the Far West region winner. For more information please click the article link below.
More than $73 million to fund over 600 affordable homes
SALEM, Ore. — Oregon Housing and Community Services announced awards of more than $73.33 million for the construction of 625 affordable homes in wildfire-affected counties across the state. The Oregon Housing Stability Council (HSC) awarded the latest rounds of program funding during their past meetings. Most of the funding will go toward development of rental housing, and some will go toward homeownership.
These awards will add needed affordable housing supply in the counties of the state affected by wildfires, including the 2020 Labor Day Fires that burned 1 million acres. More than 4,000 homes were destroyed, including more than 1,700 manufactured homes in 20 manufactured home parks.
More than $7 million in funding will go to convert the Talent Mobile Estates into a resident-owned cooperative. The manufactured dwelling park was destroyed during the 2020 Almeda Fire in Jackson County, displacing 89 families. Many of the residents were Latino/a/x families who worked in agriculture and other low-wage service jobs. They have been displaced from their community for the past 20 months. The Phoenix-Talent School District reported that nearly 40% of its students lost their homes to the fire, causing a significant social, emotional and economic disruption. CASA of Oregon will work with its partner, Coalición Fortaleza, to engage residents displaced from the area as they develop the project.
“I’ve been spending a lot of time in Southern Oregon and the Latinx community has been disproportionately affected,” said HSC Councilmember Gerard Sandoval, PhD. “This is a perfect type of project that is needed because it has strong community ties and is resident-owned.”
The council also awarded funding to Marion County to buy 15 acres of land for future development of new affordable homes. The site has the potential to establish a mix of two- to-four-bedroom single-family homes for wildfire survivors, seniors and workforce housing in the Santiam Canyon.
“Currently, we have around 300 households in Marion County who don’t have a place to call home,” said Marion County Commissioner Danielle Bethell. “This $1.7 million is not just going to purchase land; it’s going to give us the opportunity to create affordable, long-term housing that works for this community that was devastated by the wildfires.”
Below is a list of the 10 affordable housing developments awarded funding in Clackamas, Jackson, Marion and Lincoln counties.
More detailed information about the awards and the funding programs can be found in the May 2022 and June 2022 Housing Stability packets.
Media Contact:Delia Hernández
HCS.mediarequests@hcs.oregon.gov
Business Oregon has awarded 36 seismic rehabilitation grants this week for an overall 2022 award total of $80,851,799 in the eighth round of funding from the Seismic Rehabilitation Grant Program. These grants provide funding for improvements to make the buildings that communities depend on in the face of a seismic disaster stronger and safer.
The Seismic Rehabilitation Grant Program is a competitive grant program from the state of Oregon that provides funding for the seismic rehabilitation of critical public buildings, particularly public schools and emergency services facilities. It is one of the infrastructure programs that Business Oregon administers to create livable and prosperous communities, in addition to the agency’s business development work.
Public K‐12 school districts, community colleges, and education service districts are eligible for this grant program. For emergency services facilities, the emphasis is on first responder buildings including hospital buildings with acute inpatient care facilities, fire stations, police stations, sheriff's offices, and 9‐1‐1 centers.
This year’s grants bring the award total to 299 schools and 133 emergency services buildings that have been awarded funding for improvements since the program’s first awards in 2009. The program was created by the Oregon Legislature in 2005 and transferred to Business Oregon in 2014.
The current round of projects awarded includes:
School Buildings // $59,423,322
Centennial SD – Powell Butte Elem $2,500,000
Clatskanie SD – Clatskanie Elem Gym $2,182,945
Creswell SD – Creswell HS Gym $2,499,455
Eagle Point SD – Eagle Point HS Gym $2,498,235
Falls City SD – Falls City HS Gym $2,495,060
Glendale SD – Glendale JH and HS Gym $2,499,915
Joseph SD – Joseph Charter School $2,475,806
Klamath County SD – Keno Elem $2,409,410
La Grande SD – La Grande HS Auditorium $2,498,220
Lincoln County SD – Yaquina View Elem $2,497,265
Medford SD – Jacksonville Elem $2,500,000
Monument SD – Monument HS Building $2,499,945
Mount Angel SD – Mt. Angel MS Gym $2,494,755
Ontario SD – Ontario HS Gym $2,492,630
Portland Public Schools – Benson HS Gym $2,500,000
Prairie City SD – Prairie City HS Classroom Bldg. $2,500,000
Redmond SD – John Tuck Elem Gym $2,499,440
Reedsport SD – Reedsport Charter School Classrooms $2,497,880
Riddle SD – Riddle HS Classrooms $2,465,470
Roseburg Public Schools – Eastwood Elem Multi-purpose Gym $2,497,895
Scio SD – Scio HS Classroom Wing $2,498,130
Sutherlin SD – Sutherlin MS Classrooms $2,493,395
Three Rivers SD – Evergreen Elem Gym & Cafeteria $2,499,455
Umatilla SD – Clara Brownell MS Gym & Classrooms $2,428,016
Emergency Services // $21,428,477
Cannon Beach Fire District – Main Fire Station $1,926,881
City of Coquille – Coquille Fire Station 1 $2,495,305
Crook County Fire & Rescue – Main Fire Station $2,497,449
Halsey-Shedd Rural Fire District – Peoria Fire Station $1,894,420
Lookingglass Rural Fire Protection Dist. – Lookingglass Station $2,492,350
City of Milwaukie – Public Safety Building $1,233,817
North Bay Rural Fire Protection Dist. – Fire Station 1 $859,753
City of Seaside – Seaside Main Fire Station $1,707,595
City of Seaside – Seaside Police Station $1,627,897
Sweet Home Fire & Ambulance Dist. – Statin 22 (Foster Station) $596,620
Vernonia Rural Fire Protection District – Station 5 $2,330,610
Wolf Creek Rural Fire Protection District – Wolf Creek Station $1,765,780
More information on the program and its eligibility is available on Business Oregon’s website.
Projects
Team
Tobias Read
Michael Kaplan
Jaime Alvarez
Kottur Vasanth
Collin Cousar
DAS: Rhonda Nelson
OHCSD: Matthew Harris
OHCSD: Siora Arce
OHCSD: Lindsay Lott
ODOT: Nick Herrera
ODVA: Donna Haole-Valenzuela
Credit Summaries
Department of Administrative Services
DAS is the administrative arm of the Governor’s Office. DAS prepares and coordinates State agency budget requests included in the budget submitted by the Governor to the Legislative Assembly. By law, DAS is responsible for budgetary management, supervision and control over all State government programs for the executive branch of the State. In addition, DAS has the authority to request the State Treasurer to issue general obligation bonds, certificates of participation and other forms of indebtedness, as authorized by the Legislative Assembly, on behalf of State agencies.
DAS also provides administrative and support services to State agencies. DAS works to ensure that State resources are used according to law, gubernatorial policy and legislative policy in the most effective and economical manner and performs several other statewide administrative functions. DAS has general authority to operate and manage programs relating to central purchasing, motor fleet, printing, facilities construction and leasing, building maintenance, central stores, mail, insurance, telephone services and telecommunications and information technology and security. DAS, with the approval of the Governor, has general authority to adopt rules and regulations it considers necessary and proper to carry out the laws it is charged with administering.
Centralizing these statewide functions in DAS provides coordination in obtaining proper budget and debt issuance authority, as well as proper accounting for financed projects. In addition, it provides State agencies the advantage of working with a single agency, DAS, as they plan for real property or personal property acquisitions needed to accomplish their agency missions.
General Obligation Bonds
The State of Oregon may issue general obligation (GO) debt only under constitutional amendment passed by voters and in authorized amounts as approved by the Legislative Assembly. General obligation debt is secured by the full faith and credit of the State. Certain of the State’s general obligation debt are additionally secured by a levy of statewide property tax, if necessary and if permitted by law.
Article XI, Section 7 of Oregon’s Constitution provides the State with the authority to issue GO debt. Currently, Oregon has 18 constitutionally authorized GO bond programs. While each program has the potential to draw on the State’s General Fund or other taxing authority, many of the programs are fully or partially self-supporting, payable from program revenues, gifts, grants, or other revenue streams.
The State issues general obligation (GO) bonds to provide funds for a variety of projects as authorized by the Oregon Constitution and Legislative authority and budget for such issuance. Projects funded by GO debt, subject to statutory and constitutional limitations, include but are not limited to
- Governmental projects and activities,
- Highway construction (Article XI, Section 7)
- Veterans Welfare programs including home loans to veterans
- Reforestation and maintenance of the State’s Forests
- Grants to Higher Education institutions (Public Universities and Community Colleges) to finance buildings and projects; however, the Universities receiving grants made under Article XI-F(1) are required to pay debt service on such bonds
- Pollution control and industrial development projects, portions of which are repaid from funds derived from assessments, fees and other funds derived from the project
- Financing of multi-family housing for the elderly and disabled persons is authorized in Article XI-I (2).
- Article XI-J provides authorization to finance loans for the development of small-scale local energy projects, which activities are fully self-supporting.
- Finance loans for the development of small-scale local energy projects under Article XI-J
- Article XI-K provides the authority to issue bonds to fund obligations arising from the Oregon School Bond Guaranty Program
- Provide grants to fund capital costs of Oregon Health and Science University under Article XI-L
- Finance seismic rehabilitation projects for public education buildings under Article XI-M and for emergency service buildings under Article XI-N
- Article XI-O provides authorization to finance pension liabilities through the issuance of general obligation bonds.
- Article XI-P authorizes the State to issue general obligation bonds to provide grants or loans to school districts to finance the capital costs
- Finance real or personal property projects to be owned or operated by the State under Article XI-Q. Such projects could include affordable and permanent supportive housing programs under the LIFT program as well as other projects that meet the criteria. Article XI-Q has been used to retire Certificates of Participation previously used for state owned or operated projects at a lower cost
To see our General Obligation Official Statements please click here.
Certificates of Participation
ORS 283.085 through 283.092 authorize the State to enter into financing agreements through the issuance of certificates of participation. The State has issued certificates of participation to provide funds for the acquisition of computer and telecommunication systems, to decouple the Elliott State Forest from the Common School Fund so as to compensate the Fund for preservation of noneconomic benefits, and the acquisition, construction, or remodeling of State facilities. Certificates of participation have been issued for governmental activities.
To see our Certificates of Participation Official Statements please click here.
Revenue Bonds
Oregon Revised Statutes (ORS) authorizes the State to issue revenue bonds. Revenue bonds are secured by a pledge of revenues derived from the operation of the programs funded by the issuance of these obligations. The resulting bond obligations are not general obligations of the State.
State Agencies
LOTTERY REVENUE
ORS 286A.560 through 286A.585, 327.700 through 327.711, and 348.716 authorize the State to issue revenue bonds that are supported by unobligated net lottery proceeds. To date, lottery revenue bonds have been issued for infrastructure improvements, state parks, expansion and refurbishment of school facilities, light rail transportation, improvements to state fair facilities, acquisition of state forestland, watershed project grants, higher education and community college building improvements, preservation of affordable housing, and economic development in rural and distressed communities. Lottery revenue bonds have been issued for governmental activities.
To see our Lottery Revenue Official Statements please click here.
To see our Lottery Agency Annual Financial Reports please click here.
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OREGON DOT
ORS 367.605 through 367.665 authorize the Oregon Department of Transportation to issue highway user tax bonds for governmental activities to build and maintain public roads. Debt service payments for these bonds are funded by highway user taxes and vehicle registration fees.
To see our Oregon DOT Official Statements please click here.
To see our Oregon DOT Agency Annual Financial Reports please click here.
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OREGON BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT
Business Oregon is the state's economic development agency. The Business Oregon Commission oversees the agency's activities to ensure a coherent, integrated approach to economic development and a continuous policy direction that can transcend changes in executive and legislative leadership.
To see our Oregon Business Development Department Official Statements please click here.
To see our Oregon Business Development Department Financial Reports please click here.
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OREGON DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS' AFFAIRS
The office of the Director of Veterans’ Affairs (now part of the Department of Veterans’ Affairs) was created in 1945 to assist veterans in obtaining benefits under federal, state and local programs and to undertake the Program to provide loans to veterans at favorable interest rates for the purchase or improvement of farms and homes. The Director must be a veteran chosen on the basis of executive and administrative ability. The Director is appointed by the Governor with written approval of the Advisory Committee, and the appointment is subject to confirmation by the Senate. The Director serves at the pleasure of the Governor. The Department administers programs to aid veterans, including the Loan Program, the Veterans’ Home program, conservatorship services and aging/statewide Veteran services.
The Department administers the Program pursuant to Article XI‑A, which includes veteran eligibility criteria for participation in the Program, and applicable provisions of State law. Since its inception in 1945, the Program has made more than 336,600 Program Loans for acquisition of and improvements to residences and farms in all 36 counties of the State with an original principal amount of approximately $8.2 billion.
To see our Oregon Department of Veterans' Affairs Annual Financial Reports please click here.
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OREGON HOUSING AND COMMUNITY SERVICES
ORS 456.645 authorizes the Oregon Housing and Community Services Department to issue revenue bonds for financing single-family mortgage loans and multi-family housing projects. Mortgage payments and fees and rental revenues support these bonds. ORS 285B.467 through 285B.482 authorize the Oregon Business Development Department to issue revenue bonds for financing infrastructure improvement projects through the Special Public Works Fund, while ORS 285B.572 through 285B.599 authorize the issuance of revenue bonds for financing water projects through the Water/Wastewater Financing Fund. Loan repayments support the bonds associated with these business-type activities.
To see our Oregon Housing and Community Services Department Official Statements please click here.
To see our Oregon Housing and Community Services Department Annual Financial Reports please click here.
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OREGON FACILITIES AUTHORITY
The Oregon Facilities Authority ("OFA") is the Oregon state agency that helps nonprofit organizations access low-cost financing for capital projects through the issuance of tax exempt conduit revenue bonds. OFA was created by the Oregon Legislature in 1989. Since inception, it has issued over $4.4 billion in bonds. The interest on these bonds is exempt from federal income tax and state personal income tax. Because the interest on these bonds is exempt from federal income tax and state personal income tax, qualified organizations can achieve lower borrowing costs by partnering with OFA to finance their capital projects.
To see our Oregon Facilities Authority Official Statements please click here.
Talk to us
Have questions? Reach out to us directly.