Finance board approves bond sale for home loans

Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2002 | 9:17 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- The state Board of Finance Monday approved issuing up to $60 million in bonds to help low and moderate-income families finance the purchases of their first homes.

Charles Horsey III, administrator for the state Housing Division, said the "prime lending season" is approaching, so the the state will get the money it needs.

A three-member family with an income of $66,000 to $70,000 can qualify for its first home, which can cost as much as $160,000, said Horsey.

This should finance about 550 to 600 loans, said Horsey. The interest rates won't be known until the bonds are sold.

Since the program began in 1977, the division has financed 16,000 home loans. In this bond issue Horsey said $3 million will be set aside to finance energy efficient homes, which, he said, were quite "popular" in Las Vegas.

The board also authorized the issue of $11.6 million in mortgage revenue bonds for construction of the Silver Pines Senior Apartment Project in Henderson.

The board also voted to clear the way for Carson City to issue up to $50 million to convert its public hospitals into a private, nonprofit facility. The state and the city will not be liable for paying off the bonds.

The Carson-Tahoe Hospital began as a county hospital in the 1940s, and Chief Executive Officer Ed Epperson said the transfer to a nonprofit "removes the taxpayers' financial risk."

Gov. Kenny Guinn, chairman of the finance board, said neither the state nor the city would be liable when the bonds are sold, as the debt will be paid off from revenue gained from patients.

Part of the $50 million will be used to pay off existing city bonds, and there are plans to build a regional hospital in the city.