L.A. council approves nearly $1 billion in bonds for LAX upgrades

L.A. council approves nearly $1 billion in bonds for LAX upgrades The Los Angels City Council on Wednesday approved nearly $1 billion in bonds to pay for a modernization plan at Los Angeles International Airport.
   The bonds, being handled by eight outside firms, are only an initial round of funding that would be required by the city to pay for the estimated $5 billion plan.
   The financial firms for the offering include Bear, Stearns; Citigroup Global Market; De La Rosa; Goldman, Sachs & Co.; Loop Capital Markets; Morgan Stanley; Shank; Siebert Branford; and Ramirez and Co.
   'We have not been on the market with bonds for a number of years and we wanted to make sure when we did go out that we would be able to sell these at favorable rates,' LAX Assistant Director Steve Martin told the Daily News.
   The $950 million in bonds will be used by the city to reconstruct the South Runway to accommodate larger planes and provide larger taxiing and turning areas.
   The city acknowledges that delays in the project's funding have led to nearly $200 million in fees for studies.
   'The last real work we did at this airport was in 1984 and it really shows,' ' Councilman Bill Rosendahl told the Daily Breeze. 'We are long past the time improvements were needed.' '