TCPalm: Feds give Brightline 7-month extension to sell controversial bonds for extension to Orlando

By: Jim Turner, News Service of Florida

Brightline received a seven-month extension Thursday to sell $1.15 billion in tax-exempt bonds for the expansion of the controversial passenger train line to Orlando.

The money would be used for the portions of Brightline's Phase 2, through Brevard and Orange counties. The bonds would not pay for work through the Treasure Coast, Brightline officials have said.

The U.S. Department of Transportation granted the extension, noting that the extra time gives All Aboard Florida — Brightline's parent company — until the end of the year to sell the private-activity bonds, issued through the Florida Finance Development Finance Corp.

Part of the reason for the “provisional” extension is that All Aboard Florida continues to work on alternative financing for the project, Derek Kan, undersecretary of transportation for policy, wrote in a letter to All Aboard Florida Holdings Vice President Bruce Snyder…