At the July 15 County Commissioners Meeting, the Commissioners voted to approve the refunding of the County’s outstanding General Obligation Bonds, series 2003 B and series 2008. The termination fee will fall around $2 million, however a financial advisor serving the County maintained that the projected savings will outweigh this expense.
Last week, the Commissioners approved a motion to begin this process by requesting financial advising services. County Administrator Charles Douts said last week that forward motion would occur in less than a month’s time; Wednesday’s vote confirmed that projection. This, however, is not the only measure being taken by the County to distance itself from unpredictable rates. According to the County’s adviser, this is the first of several rounds of terminations, the next of which will come around August and will account for the County’s most significant movement toward more predictable debt service.
Commissioner Lehman affirmed the motion, saying “We’re trying to take a strong, conservative fiscal management approach to dealing with our debt and also dealing with our budget going forward. And, if I remember correctly, this will actually reduce the amount of variable rate debt in our overall portfolio to about 10%.” Scott Martin reiterated the essential purpose of this move: “What we’re trying to do…is shift some of these swaps from variable rate to fixed rate, and eliminate that risk.”
