When the CSAC Finance Corporation was formed in 1986 for the purpose of providing a public benefit no one would have guessed just how expansive the organization would become.  In response to queries from counties regarding financing assistance, the CSAC Finance Corporation was formed and started creating a chain of public/private partnerships that have now spanned close to three decades and have grown to provide an impressive amount of public benefit to California Counties and residents.

The first program of the CSAC Finance Corporation was the creation of the California Statewide Communities Development Authority (CSCDA); created in 1988.  CSCDA was formed as a joint powers authority to provide California’s local governments with an effective tool for timely financing of community-based projects.  Since that time, CSCDA has funded $13.6 billion for 1,475 local agency participants including every California county and myriad cities and special districts.  In addition to the public agency programs; CSCDA is able to provide assistance to private projects that create a public benefit and has funded $36 billion for 1,855 local community approved projects; including the creation of 62,111 low-income affordable housing units in California, 308 nonprofit hospitals and medical facilities, 179 educational facilities, and many others.

More exciting new financing opportunities are on the horizon as last week we were awarded $35 million in New Markets Tax Credits which can benefit real estate projects in distressed communities throughout California.  More information on this program will be available during our free webinar on May 14, 2013 at 10:00am.

In 1989, the next major county benefit program bloomed; the U.S. Communities pooled purchasing program.  This program saves counties, cities, schools, special districts and nonprofit agencies throughout California and the nation millions every year on a variety of products and services by taking advantage of the pooled purchasing power of public agencies and now has over 55,000 participating agencies.

The CSAC Finance Corporation remains focused on creating viable and quality public benefit programs.  In 2011, we launched our partnership with Coast2Coast Rx which saves citizens real dollars on prescription medications and also assists counties in filling budget gaps.  This year, we will launch two other health care programs designed to ease the burden of health care on county administration while increasing the availability of services to active and retired employees.  Stay tuned for more information!

The success of the CSAC Finance Corporation programs has allowed us to supplement CSAC’s operating budget and support the advocacy efforts they provide on behalf of California’s counties.   The first monetary assistance the CSAC Finance Corporation was able to provide to CSAC in the 1980s was for a telephone answering system.  Today, we provide $3.3 million annually to CSAC activities.

For more information on these, and other, CSAC Finance Corporation programs please visit us at www.csacfinancecorp.org or feel free to contact me at 916.650.8186 or llabanieh@counties.org.