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tC atings <br />FITCH RATES BREVARD COUNTY, FL SPACE COAST <br />INFRASTRUCTURE AGENCY INFRA IMPRVMNT REVS 'A' <br />Fitch Ratings -New York-31 July 2012: Fitch Ratings assigns an 'A' rating to approximately $38.7 <br />million in Space Coast Infrastructure Agency (the Agency) Infrastructure Improvement Revenue <br />Bonds (I-95 Brevard County DBF Project), Series 2012. The Outlook on the bonds is stable. <br />The bonds are expected to close on August 15th and the proceeds will be used to finance a portion <br />of costs of the Florida Department of Transportation's (FDOT) approximately 29 mile widening of <br />I-95 from four lanes to six lanes in Brevard and Volusia Counties (the project). <br />KEY RATING DRIVERS <br />SOLID ABILITY & WILLINGNESS OF FDOT TO MEET OBLIGATIONS: Bond payments are <br />derived from statutorily authorized payments to be made by the Florida Department of <br />Transportation (FDOT), subject to appropriation, pursuant to a design build finance (DBF) contract. <br />Pursuant to section 334.30 of Florida Statutes, FDOT can enter into DBF contracts and other public <br />private partnerships for projects included in FDOT's work program. <br />Payments by FDOT can be made over time, as long as obligations for such payments in total do not <br />exceed 15% of total federal and state funding for the State Transportation Trust Fund (STTF). Fitch <br />views the credit quality of the statutorily authorized payments to be made by FDOT pursuant to the <br />DBF contract as 'A.' This rating will drive the rating on the bonds. Failure of FDOT to appropriate <br />during the principal repayment period or failure to include the project in future work programs <br />would lead to a payment default. <br />STRUCTURED ARRANGEMENT LIMITS COMPLETION RISK: The bonds are structured <br />similar to a receivable financing, with the bondholder isolated from the risk of the contractor failing <br />to perform. The bonds are structured to have 1.0 times (x) coverage. Bond proceeds are only drawn <br />down for FDOT approved work, ensuring that at any time the combination of bond proceeds, <br />contract payments due from FDOT for approved work and structured liquidity is equal to the par <br />amount of the bonds. A termination of the DBF contract and certain other events would lead to a <br />mandatory tender of the bonds but there is no premium should these occur, meaning that available <br />resources should always be sum sufficient to cover debt service. <br />INTERESTS OF FDOT & CONTRACTOR ALIGNED: While the structure of the transaction <br />isolates the bondholder from completion risk, the statutes that allow FDOT to enter into DBF <br />contracts and FDOT's construction risk mitigation procedures indicate that the interests of all <br />parties are aligned. The DBF approach allows for project acceleration without a short-term impact <br />to FDOT's cash outlay. In addition, this particular financing structure includes a waiver of offsets <br />by FDOT once work has been approved, minimizing leverage on the DBF contractor's balance <br />sheet. In conjunction with these benefits, FDOT does require a surety bond sized to 100% of the <br />contract price and will only be required to pay for work approved. In addition, FDOT runs an <br />annual qualification process for contractors and surety providers, and also has clearly defined <br />contractual arrangements. While bondholders are not exposed to contract frustration or contract <br />default, the proper alignment of interests between FDOT and the DBF contractor provides comfort. <br />WHAT COULD TRIGGER A RATING ACTION <br />--Change in the credit quality of FDOT's Statutorily Authorized Obligations. <br />SECURITY <br />The bonds are secured by FDOT Contract payments and all funds held by the Trustee pursuant to <br />the indenture, including the Project Fund and the Bond Fund, which includes the reserve account <br />