The Florida Municipal Loan Council (FMLC), administered by the Florida League of Cities, is a pooled loan program for local government borrowers of all sizes.
Established in 1998 as a way to help member entities finance or refinance projects, the FMLC has issued more than $871 million in municipal bonds to make 112 loans to 57 borrowers, according to Teresa Colvin, Associate Director of Financial Services for the Florida League of Cities.
Now, investors and other interested parties can access the Council’s official statements dating back to 2002, as well as current financial reports for the Council and participating government borrowers through one convenient portal. “The FMLC Investor Relations page was set up within the last year to offer investors an easy to use one-stop source for our borrowers’ disclosure information, including official statements and Comprehensive Annual Financial Reports (CAFRs),” Colvin says.
The FMLC is currently comprised of cities, towns and villages, and one county borrower; participation is also open to special districts. Its structure is similar to a municipal bond bank, but the FMLC is classified as an Enterprise Fund because membership is voluntary, and, unlike other state-run municipal bond banks, it is not comprised of a “blind pool.”
Participation in the FMLC affords members a means of cost-efficient borrowing. Small and medium-size borrowers can benefit from the “economies of scale typically associated with larger-scale issuance.” Membership also carries certain obligations, including compliance with continuing disclosure requirements. As such, the FMLC is able to provide transparency to investors and other interested parties for all government members in the loan program.