This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Politics & Government

County Trims Borrowing Costs by $1.9 Million

County refinances $30 Million in Debt

Taxpayers will save about $1.9 million in interest charges as the result of refinancing $30 million in Ocean County debt, according to Freeholder John C. Bartlett Jr.

The county’s financial advisors recommended the refinancing to take advantage of interest rates hovering near historic lows.

They said interest costs would be cut because of the current rates, and because the county has a AAA bond rating, a better rating than the one agencies gave the county when the $30 million was originally borrowed, Bartlett said.

Find out what's happening in Berkeleywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The refinancing sale and the sale of $26.2 million in new county debt was put off by the Congressional wrangling over increasing the nation’s debt ceiling, but went ahead once that impasse was broken.

Bartlett said the old bonds were sold at an interest rate of two percent, half the old rate, saving $1.9 million in interest. The life of those bonds, 11 years, is not being extended.

Find out what's happening in Berkeleywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The debt paid to build the Jakes Branch County Park in Beachwood, the county government complex on Haywood Road in Manahawkin, part of the Rail Trail from Barnegat to Toms River, expand the county jail, rebuild part of Long Beach Boulevard on Long Beach Island and add a terminal at the Robert J. Miller Airpark in Berkeley.

A dozen firms bid for the county’s bonds, with Chicago-based Hutchinson, Shockey, Erley and Company offering the lowest interest rate.

The $26.2 in new bonds went for 3.1 percent interest bid by Raymond James and Associates of Tampa, Fla. Bartlett said the net county debt will not increase, because about $26 million in bonds are being paid off this year.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?