Author: U S Government Accountability Office (G

Publisher: BiblioGov

Published: 2013-06

Total Pages: 32

ISBN-13: 9781289101848

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Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided a status report on the construction of the new Washington Convention Center, focusing on: (1) the status of the project; (2) changes in the Washington Convention Center Authority's (WCCA) estimated project costs and financing plan since GAO's last report; and (3) actual expenditures and collection of dedicated taxes. GAO noted that: (1) in March 1999, work started on slurry wall construction, site excavation, and removal of contaminated soil; (2) based on information provided by WCCA officials as of June 1999, total estimated project costs decreased $55 million from $846 million to $791 million; (3) this decrease was due to reduced financing-related costs, which resulted primarily from the purchase of a surety bond covering debt servicing instead of funding the initially planned for Debt Service Reserve Fund; (4) WCCA estimated the total construction cost of the project at $714 million--$6.3 million, or less than 1 percent, more than the June 1998 estimate; (5) the $6.3 million increases to $24 million the estimated value of equipment that WCCA anticipates being provided by vendors at no initial cost to WCCA; (6) however, WCCA remains at risk for the cost of the equipment until contracts are executed with vendors; (7) within the $714 million construction cost estimate, WCCA made a number of changes, increasing the estimated cost of some project components and decreasing others to reflect more current data; (8) proceeds from the September 1998 bond sale covered about 66 percent of the $791 million June 1999 project cost estimate; (9) WCCA's financing plan covered the remaining cost through dedicated taxes over the 4-year construction period, anticipated interest earnings, anticipated federal grants, and reliance on vendors to provide without cost, equipment that WCCA estimates would cost $24 million--an amount for which WCCA is at risk until such time that there are executed contracts to cover these arrangements; (10) dedicated tax collections for the first 10 months of fiscal year 1999 were $42.2 million--a little higher than the amount assumed in the bond offering documents prorated for the same period; (11) in addition to the amounts already collected, WCCA may receive some portion of amounts in the lockbox exceptions account; (12) these amounts cannot be determined until all collections held in the lockbox exceptions account have been appropriately allocated by the District of Columbia and appropriate amounts transferred to WCCA; and (13) WCCA's share of interest earnings on amounts in the exceptions account cannot be determined until the District determines the appropriate allocation.

Download or read book District of Columbia written by U S Government Accountability Office (G and published by BiblioGov. This book was released on 2013-06 with total page 32 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided a status report on the construction of the new Washington Convention Center, focusing on: (1) the status of the project; (2) changes in the Washington Convention Center Authority's (WCCA) estimated project costs and financing plan since GAO's last report; and (3) actual expenditures and collection of dedicated taxes. GAO noted that: (1) in March 1999, work started on slurry wall construction, site excavation, and removal of contaminated soil; (2) based on information provided by WCCA officials as of June 1999, total estimated project costs decreased $55 million from $846 million to $791 million; (3) this decrease was due to reduced financing-related costs, which resulted primarily from the purchase of a surety bond covering debt servicing instead of funding the initially planned for Debt Service Reserve Fund; (4) WCCA estimated the total construction cost of the project at $714 million--$6.3 million, or less than 1 percent, more than the June 1998 estimate; (5) the $6.3 million increases to $24 million the estimated value of equipment that WCCA anticipates being provided by vendors at no initial cost to WCCA; (6) however, WCCA remains at risk for the cost of the equipment until contracts are executed with vendors; (7) within the $714 million construction cost estimate, WCCA made a number of changes, increasing the estimated cost of some project components and decreasing others to reflect more current data; (8) proceeds from the September 1998 bond sale covered about 66 percent of the $791 million June 1999 project cost estimate; (9) WCCA's financing plan covered the remaining cost through dedicated taxes over the 4-year construction period, anticipated interest earnings, anticipated federal grants, and reliance on vendors to provide without cost, equipment that WCCA estimates would cost $24 million--an amount for which WCCA is at risk until such time that there are executed contracts to cover these arrangements; (10) dedicated tax collections for the first 10 months of fiscal year 1999 were $42.2 million--a little higher than the amount assumed in the bond offering documents prorated for the same period; (11) in addition to the amounts already collected, WCCA may receive some portion of amounts in the lockbox exceptions account; (12) these amounts cannot be determined until all collections held in the lockbox exceptions account have been appropriately allocated by the District of Columbia and appropriate amounts transferred to WCCA; and (13) WCCA's share of interest earnings on amounts in the exceptions account cannot be determined until the District determines the appropriate allocation.