The refunding bonds are expected to generate an estimated 16.5 million of net present value savings or roughly $1.5 million annually. The second series of bonds, 2026b, will be issued in an amount not to exceed $125 million. These refunding bonds are expected to generate an estimated $12.2 million of net present value savings or roughly $800,000 annually.

And I just want to acknowledge that you had really good news in the middle of that with a AAA bond rating being reaffirmed. I wanted to verbally uplift that.

Half of the projected riders on this new line are expected to come from households that do not own a car. Our project staff...has prioritized preventing displacement as part of building this project at every stage of the way. The goal has simply been to make sure that people that are affected by this project and that it's being built to serve are there to experience the benefits that will come with this particular project.

The reality of light rail projects is that they are expensive, and they also provide undeniable return on investment when done right. For residents, businesses, communities, our region, and our state.

It's our money. We're giving it to the federal government. We are in line in their rules following it. The people that we compete with for businesses are right behind us and they're hoping we fail. At the end of the day, when you're in projects, you hope that something happens that you're going to move up because these things take decades.

As the county steps up to increase its contribution to this vital project, I want to acknowledge the scale of the investment. A not to exceed of $2.25 billion when the county and rail authority contributions are combined. To state the obvious, that is a lot of money and it's going to bring amazing benefits to our communities long after our service to Henipin County residents is done.

This project isn't about the train. It's about the people and I think that is so powerful. You all we have just been very intentional about this project and how we bring people into it. Making sure that people are a part of this project who historically just have not been.

I am concerned that we didn't have a more of a robust understanding about maybe everyone else knew but I did not know about the large investment that was going to be coming when we got the new numbers from Met Council...for me to be able to say yes to something like this my my constituency make they're they're going to expect me to understand exactly what that looks like and I can't say that I do.

And Commissioner Lundy, you made a fantastic point about waiting for a project and the need for a wait. And you held up your hand of the number of transit projects that your district has. Well, you know how many projects my district has even planned? Zero. You know how many will be available for my district with dedicating the money for this project? Zero.

I also want to see the investment in those communities along that corridor. I know what it's meant to my communities and it's been tremendous...I know what didn't work in the last projects and I know what went right in those last projects. And so, we had a lot of lessons learned.

Half of the people expected to ride this line comes from households with zero cars. Half. These are residents that are not choosing transit. They are counting on transit in the hottest days and with snow on the ground. And we have been waiting for decades.