FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:  Jim Lewin, Lee County Budget Services
               (239) 335-2336

COUNTY'S LATEST BOND REFINANCING SAVES MILLIONS

FORT MYERS, Fla. (November 12, 2003) - Lee County has saved $3.2 million in its latest refinancing of bonds first issued to help pay for the Midpoint Memorial Bridge.

The county refinanced $41 million of its Capital and Transportation Facilities Refunding Revenue Bonds, Series 1993 on Nov. 4. Closing of the transaction is expected to occur on Nov. 26. Net present values savings was $3,249,102, or about 8% of the original issue.

The bonds being refinanced at lower interest rates were first issued in 1991 to pay for engineering design and land acquisition costs for the Midpoint Memorial Bridge. They were later refinanced in 1993 with interest rates ranging from 2.45 percent to 5.4 percent. The new bonds have rates ranging from 2 percent to 5 percent.

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 county and its financial advisors monitor the municipal bond market and if the three-percent criterion is met it proceeds with the refunding and refinancing.

Lee County Government's total debt is about $1.2 billion (including the airport, which is a separate, self-supporting authority). Annual debt service (repayment of principal and interest) represents about 7 percent of appropriations. Standard & Poor's Rating Group, another of the major rating agencies, suggests that annual debt service should not exceed 10-to-15 percent of appropriations.

For more information about Lee County's debt, the Lee County Debt Manual is online at the county government's web site (www.lee-county.com) under the "Documents Online" section.