Section R20-8-204. Priority; Approval and Disapproval; Funding; Appeal

A.      The Board shall not review an application for financial assistance that does not meet the eligibility criteria in R20-8- 203.

B.       During each financial assistance round, the Board shall determine the order and priority of infrastructure projects for which an eligible application for financial assistance has been received. Application scores shall be prioritized based on a percentage of the points received to total points possible. The minimum number of points required to be eligible for consideration for funding by the Board is 70 percent or 70 points. Applicants scoring less than 70 percent will be notified in writing by electronic or other means. A score of 70 percent does not guarantee funding. Applications for financial assistance shall be assigned points under the following categories in descending order of importance:

1.        The applicant demonstrates strong credit worthiness and ability to repay the obligation based on the source of the repayment pledge - Up to 50 points,

a.        Category I, A, and general obligation pledges - Up to 50 points; or

b.        Category II, Baa, BBB, and previously unrated pledges with coverage ratios of 1.50 or higher - Up to 45 points; or

c.        Previously unrated pledges with coverage ratios less than 1.50 - Up to 35 points.

2.        The applicant demonstrates that it has little or no access to alternative funding sources that provide the same or lower access to capital as that provided by the Authority - Up to 25 points,

a.        No access to alternative funding sources - 25 points, or

b.        One alternative funding source - 15 points, or

c.        Two or more alternative funding sources - 5 points, or

d.        No alternative funding sources researched - 0 points.

3.        There is evidence of the project’s public support based on the adopted planning document specific to the locality or evidence that the project has been discussed in meetings or in study sessions of the governing body of the applicant - Up to 15 points,

4.        The purpose of the project is the following:

a.        Public infrastructure or economic development - Up to 10 points, or

b.        Refinancing of public infrastructure debt - Up to 5 points.

C.      The Board shall approve or disapprove each application for financial assistance based upon the priority list and available funding for financial assistance. The Board may fund all or a portion of a financial assistance request. Disbursement of funds to an approved applicant shall only occur upon the applicant’s agreement with the terms and conditions established by the Board in accordance with A.R.S. § 41-2257. The prioritization using points assigned under subsection (B) is as follows:

1.        The tied application with the higher score under subsection (B)(1) shall have priority over other applications;

2.        If the tied applications have the same score under subsection (B)(1) the application with the higher score under subsection (B)(2) shall have priority over the other applications;

3.        If the tied applications have the same score under subsections (B)(1) and (2) the application with the higher score under subsection (B)(3) shall have priority over the other applications;

4.        If the tied applications have the same score under subsections (B)(1), (2), and (3), the application with the higher score under subsection (B)(4) shall have priority over the other applications;

5.        If the tied applications have the same score under subsections (B)(1), (2), (3), and (4), the Board shall determine the priority of the applications.

D.      The Authority shall notify in writing by electronic or other means each applicant of the Board’s determination within 90 days after the date that all applications for financial assistance were due.

E.       For each approved project, the Authority shall establish a date by which the commitment of the Authority to provide financial assistance expires. The Authority shall not provide financial assistance for an approved project if the applicant does not complete all agreements with the Authority on or before that date.

F.       An applicant whose project for financial assistance is disapproved or determined to be ineligible may appeal. The Authority shall use the Uniform Administrative Hearings Procedures of A.R.S. Title 41, Chapter 6, Article 10 to govern the initiation and conduct of formal adjudicative proceedings before the Authority.

Historical Note

Adopted effective February 3, 1998 (Supp. 98-1).

Amended by final rulemaking at 16 A.A.R. 190, effective March 6, 2010 (Supp. 10-1). Pursuant to authority of

A.R.S. § 41-1011(C), Laws 2011, Second Special Session, Ch. 1, authorizes the transfer of A.R.S. citations.

Therefore the A.R.S. citation in subsection (C) was updated. Agency request filed February 12, 2013, Office File No. R13-179 (Supp. 13-1).