Man, this list will let anyone lurk.... <grin>
Hi Roger, Yep, Perry told me they owned the conduit. I was working for that “other” place then. We would have blown in fiber in a heartbeat. This was probably 6-8 years ago. From: Roger Timmerman Sent: Thursday, August 11, 2016 2:21 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [AFMUG] Special Assessment I would recommend steering away from a Special Assessment Area as a mechanism for funding FTTx. A bond with an SAA repayment still needs some form of backstop and in the case of Brigham City, the city placed liens on the properties as the backstop to the bonds. It worked to get the bond and fund the build, but resulted in lots of not-so-happy people. We don't plan on doing that ever again and connect customers now under our normal bond/debt structure with no liens. As far as Perry City, UTOPIA collectively paid for the conduit, and we did finish that city so anyone in the city can get services there now. Obviously, it wasn't in our best interests to let someone else come use that conduit. Steer as far from RUS as possible. The most devastating mishap in UTOPIA's history was using RUS loans to fund several builds and then have RUS mess it up. After many years of legal fighting we finally settled with them last year. Never again! This was the cause for the Perry City completion delay where it may have appeared to be an abandoned project for a few years. Roger On Thu, Aug 11, 2016 at 12:49 PM, Chuck McCown <[email protected]> wrote: Tell them you are adjoining Eagle Mountain... -----Original Message----- From: Sterling Jacobson Sent: Thursday, August 11, 2016 11:36 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [AFMUG] Special Assessment Thanks for that, I'll give it a try, though I doubt they will see it as rural. We do have some large farms in the city still... -----Original Message----- From: Af [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Chuck McCown Sent: Thursday, August 11, 2016 11:32 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [AFMUG] Special Assessment Might be worth calling these guys: http://www.cobank.com/About-CoBank.aspx -----Original Message----- From: Sterling Jacobson Sent: Thursday, August 11, 2016 11:28 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [AFMUG] Special Assessment Ah, ok. Fiber is way more capital intensive than the WISP I had, and requires massive funding. So my traditional sources and avenues for borrowing don't even come close to matching up with the demand and cost of construction. Too bad banks don't see fiber/conduit build as collateral. That is why I am investigating special assessment. -----Original Message----- From: Af [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Travis Johnson Sent: Thursday, August 11, 2016 11:17 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [AFMUG] Special Assessment Just saying that government money is never what it's cracked up to be. I've never taken a single dime (loan, grant, tax, assessment, etc) and probably never will, with any of my companies. It's just not worth all the extra work and headaches. If you have a sound business plan and operation, just borrow the money and get it done. There are all kinds of ways to be creative when it comes to funding. Leasing equipment, 60 day term credit cards, lines of credit (secured with assets of the business), or even home equity loans (4.25% right now, with interest only payments), etc. Travis On 8/11/2016 10:52 AM, Sterling Jacobson wrote: Definitely. Travis, are you just generally saying the money comes with strings attached, or do you have actual specific experience with Special Assessment in this manner? -----Original Message----- From: Af [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Chuck McCown Sent: Thursday, August 11, 2016 10:51 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [AFMUG] Special Assessment Yeah, good people find themselves in legal trouble all the time when getting involved with guvmnt money. Less than zero tolerance for even the appearance of evil. -----Original Message----- From: Travis Johnson Sent: Thursday, August 11, 2016 10:48 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [AFMUG] Special Assessment You better build in an additional 100% for overhead costs... I would imagine you would have to start doing audited tax returns and financials every year. You will also have to have someone tracking every single expense and what it is attached to, etc. Then you will have all the overhead and administrative costs for managing the paperwork and government related money. Travis On 8/11/2016 10:21 AM, Sterling Jacobson wrote: Has anyone here ever done a special assessment funded project? I have a couple of examples in Utah/Idaho, but am looking for specific examples and advice from my provider friends here. I'm not sure if it's called something else in other states so this is what I have been told: You talk to a land developer, get them to partner up with your company and the city. They allow a tax or assessment item to be attached to the developed lot/unit for around 20 years. Sometime like $150 a year, so $3000 total over the period. The city council agrees and creates a bond type item for that and your company gets a check for the total amount times number of properties. Then you work with the developer to install all of the necessary stuff for internet, which is fiber in my case. And the new property owner has your service available from the get go, maybe with free install, and a $150 a year discount on the service for 20 years. Anyone done anything like this?
