FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:    Jim Lewin, Lee County Administration
                (941) 335-2336

FORT MYERS, Fla. (October 18, 2001) – Lee County garbage ratepayers have saved $25.7 million through the refinancing this week of $141 million of bonds on the Waste-to-Energy Facility that were first issued in 1991. It is the largest amount ever saved on a county bond refinancing.

In addition, $11.9 million of the bonds were sold on a retail basis to individual investors.

The bonds went on sale Monday for retail customers and were available to institutional investors Tuesday. Total savings were 11.7 percent, or $25.7 million over the life of the bonds and $17.4 million adjusted to net present value. The 1991 initial bonds that were refinanced carried interest rates of 6 percent to 7 percent. The 2001 refinancing bonds carry interest rates of 2.2 percent to 4.6 percent. The transaction is expected to close on Nov. 6.

The county has a policy of looking into refinancing outstanding bonds if, at current interest rates, it can save at least three percent of the present value of the existing debt. The underwriters on the sale were UBS/Paine Webber (lead underwriter), Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, AG Edwards & Sons, and Salomon Smith Barney.

The county has aggressively sought to complete refinancing of all of its eligible bond issues in the last several years due to favorable interest rates – saving nearly $65.4 million in future debt service costs.

In June, the county saved $8.2 million from the refinancing of more than $60 million of transportation bonds first issued to build the parallel span of the Cape Coral Bridge.

Lee County’s Waste-to-Energy Facility was completed in August 1994 and disposes of the county’s garbage by burning it and generating electricity from a steam driven turbine. The facility burns about 395,000 tons of garbage a year and generates up to 34 megawatts of electricity – or enough to power about 30,000 homes. Since the Waste-to-Energy plant began operating, residential garbage rates in Lee County have declined from $224 to $196 a year. Covanta Lee Inc., formerly Ogden Martin Systems of Lee Inc., operates the facility through a County contract.

To learn more about Lee County’s debt, visit www.lee-county.com and view the county’s Debt Manual under "Documents Online."