Dane County to Refinance Bonds, Save More than $3-Million

January 29, 2010
County Executive

Dollars Borrowed for Courthouse, Airport Terminal Construction to be Refinanced at Lower Interest Rate

 Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk announced today the county is refinancing borrowing made to pay for a pair of capital improvement projects, saving county taxpayers millions over the next several years.

“By taking advantage of lower interest rates, we’ll save taxpayers about $3.4 million,” County Executive Falk said.  Just like a homeowner watching for the best mortgage rates and going to a lender when the time is right to refinance and save money, we too in county government have a great opportunity to save dollars during these incredibly tight times,” Falk added. 

She noted the savings of about $460,000 per year for each of the next several years. 

Under terms of the bonds issued when the county borrowed dollars for those big capital projects, this is the county’s first opportunity to refinance without being subject to pre-payment penalties.  Given that interest rates are much lower today than they were when the bonds were first issued, the refinancing will result in much less interest paid on the two big projects.

The county plans to refinance two bonds issued from 2002.  One of the bonds is about $13-million for the airport terminal project.  The second bond, worth about $20-million, was borrowed on December 1, 2002, primarily for the new courthouse.

Resolutions authorizing the refinancing will have to be approved by the county board and signed by the County Executive.  Pending final approval, the county plans to complete the refinancing process in mid February.

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