Publish Date:
Sunday, March 3, 2019 - 6:45pm
AT WEDNESDAY'S FDFC MEETING, DYLAN REINGOLD, INDIAN RIVER COUNTY'S ATTORNEY, WILL ARGUE BRIGHTLINE ISN'T A GOOD INVESTMENT RISK.
A Feb. 25 letter outlines Reingold’s objections to the FDFC approving the bonds. His objections include:
- Brightline stated it would have more than a million passengers a year. Reingold cited reports Brightline had only 579,000 passengers in 2018 and ridership dropped from 98,076 passengers in December to 73,568 in January.
- Reports showing Brightline was losing cash so quickly that if rate continued, “they maybe could last a year.”
Finally, Reingold paints what could be a Florida nightmare:
“By providing additional financial support, when the private sector has rejected the project, the FDFC is setting the State of Florida up to eventually take over the project once it ultimately fails,” Reingold wrote. “Please save the State of Florida from a future costly bailout.”
Original article was written by Laurence Reisman of the TCPalm