From the Lansing State Journal
A proposed multibillion-dollar magnetic levitation train that would run through Livingston County could be financed using taxpayer-backed credit ratings if agreed to by government units, a Troy-based financier said.
The danger: If a public-private lease agreement were broken, government units that provide local services would be on the hook to pay for the magnetic levitation train, known as a MagLev.
Michigan municipalities can’t co-sign loans with private companies, but the financiers could lend money to the state, then the state would lend that same money to private entities, explained Tom Baker, vice president of First Funding LLC.
In this case, the “back-to-back” lease agreement would require Northfield Township-based Interstate Traveler Co., the company behind the train, to repay the state loan.
Read more: http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/201012250400/NEWS01/12250306