Howard County conducted its annual bond sale, offering both Consolidated Improvement Bonds (CPI) and Metropolitan District Bonds via competitive bidding.
“Because of our careful and responsible fiscal policies, we were able to get very low interest rates for our bonds,” said Howard County Executive Allan Kittleman. “That means county taxpayers will pay less in the long run for needed capital projects and to improve our infrastructure.”
“There is a second dose of good news in the sale,” said County Finance Director Stan Milesky. “By selling refunding bonds on previously issued debt, we will reduce the long-term interest cost to county taxpayers by nearly $11 million.”
The bond sale exceeded the county’s pre-sale projections and included the following:
- An accepted offer to purchase $100,180,000 in CPI bonds by the Bank of America Merrill Lynch at a True Interest Cost of 2.86%;
- An accepted offer to purchase $27,075,000 in Metropolitan District bonds (used to finance water and sewer system improvements) by the Robert W. Baird Company at a True Interest Cost of 3.27%;
- An accepted offer to purchase $84,015,000 in CPI refunding bonds by the Bank of America Merrill Lynch at a True Interest Cost of 2.35%. This will result in a savings of $10.6 million in interest payments on previously issued bonds; and
- An accepted offer to purchase $3,940,000 in Metropolitan District refunding bonds by the Robert W. Baird Company at a True Interest Cost of 2.65%. This will result in a savings of $422,000 in interest payments on previously issued bonds.
All told, 11 bidders made offers to purchase county bonds. Because of the county’s Triple-A credit rating, its bonds are highly valued in the marketplace. The savings from the refunded bonds is spread fairly evenly throughout all the maturities offered, with a total savings of approximately $417,000 in fiscal year 2016 alone.