State Infrastructure Banks (SIB) were authorized in 1995 as a part of the National Highway Designation Act (NHS) to help accelerate needed mobility improvements through a variety of financial assistance options made to local entities through state transportation departments.

Since Texas was chosen as one of the ten states to test the pilot program, its state legislature authorized the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) to administer the SIB program in 1997.

Publications

State Infrastructure Bank Publications

Purpose

The overall goal of the SIB program is to provide innovative financing methods that will add to the list of options available to communities to assist them in meeting their infrastructure needs.

The SIB program allows borrowers to access capital funds at or lower-than-market interest rates.

General Information

The Texas Transportation Commission, TxDOT’s governing body, has approved 67 loans totaling more than $294.9 million from the SIB program. The loans have helped leverage more than $2.03 billion in transportation projects in Texas.

The SIB operates as a revolving loan fund, where the account balance grows through the monthly interest earned and repaid principal and interest payments.

In Texas, SIB financial assistance can be granted to any public or private entity authorized to construct, maintain or finance an eligible transportation project.

Projects must be eligible for funding under the existing federal highway rules (Title 23) to comply with SIB requirements. This usually requires a project to be on a state’s highway system and included in the statewide Transportation Improvement Plan.

Work eligible for the program’s funding in Texas includes planning and preliminary studies; feasibility, economical and environmental studies; right of way acquisition; surveying; appraisal and testing; utility relocation; engineering and design; construction; inspection and construction engineering.

Future Funding

As of January 2002, pursuant to Section 1108 of the Department of Defense’s FY 2002 Appropriation bill (Public Law 107-117) amending Section 1511(b) of the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21), Texas was added to the lists of States (California, Florida, Missouri, and Rhode Island) that are eligible to participate in the TEA-21, PL 105-178 State Infrastructure Bank pilot.

TxDOT is planning on having two separate and distinct pilot programs with separate accounts: (1) The original NHS 350 program and (2) the TEA-21 program, which enables TxDOT to recapitalize its SIB program.