Sacramento OKs Bond Sale to Pay for Raider Relocation

SACRAMENTO —  The City Council unanimously gave final approval Tuesday night to the sale of $96.5 million in bonds, about half of which would be used to pay the $50-million relocation fee offered to the Los Angeles Raiders.

City Treasurer Thomas P. Friery said the bonds were offered for sale Tuesday. All that had remained was for the council to approve the transaction.

The bond sale--the largest in the city’s history--includes an estimated $46 million for the Raiders fee. The remainder of the $50 million fee will come from interest on the bond proceeds and other sources, officials said.

It also includes money for a variety of more traditional public projects.

With the sale of the bonds, the city appears to have cleared the next-to-last hurdle in its share of the efforts to lure the Raiders to Sacramento. The final step will come with the bond closing Nov. 28, officials said.

“I don’t think (the football team) is going to do anything until after we have the money in hand,” Friery said. “I don’t think you’ll see a National Football League team signed until after Nov. 28.”