Too Many Red Flags to Approve a 1.5 Billion Dollar OTA Bond Issue Without Due Diligence

December 4, 2024— “There are just too many red flags for the Council of Bond Oversight (COBO) to approve the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority’s 1.5-billion-dollar bond issue request that’s on their agenda for their December meeting,” stated Tassie Katherine Hirschfeld, Ph.D. a researcher for Oklahomans for Responsible Transportation.

Three objections to the OTA Bond request have been filed with COBO (see links at end of this article.)

COBO appears to be planning to rubber stamp a new $1.5 billion Turnpike Authority bond offering with no due diligence, putting investors at risk and unfairly penalizing Oklahoma drivers with exponential toll increases for projects that are not economically viable and appear doomed to fail.

Researchers at Oklahomans for Responsible Transportation have ascertained that the proposed ACCESS Oklahoma turnpike projects will have a deficit cash flow approaching $10 billion over the thirty-year life of the bonds, even before any operations or maintenance costs are added.

The proposed 2025 bond issue also violates several key clauses of the Authority’s master trust agreement, does not include required documentation from the consulting engineer, and outlines a disastrous financial plan that will force Oklahoma drivers to pay over $20 billion in debt service costs alone for highway projects that have been unanimously rejected by the city of Norman.

Oklahomans for Responsible Transportation requests that the Council of Bond Oversight postpone any decision on the proposed OTA bond offering until a full feasibility study and compliance review can be completed by an outside third party.

We also request that any future OTA bond offerings be postponed until the state auditor completes the investigative audit ordered by the Attorney General.