Bond Refunding Saves City of Richmond Approximately $13 Million
On Monday, December 4, 2017, the City of Richmond successfully sold its $119 million tax-exempt General Obligation Public Improvement Refunding Bonds in order to refund existing debt service and achieve interest rate savings. The cost of funds for the city’s 2017D Refunding Bonds was approximately 2.4%, which is near the lowest cost of funds in several decades. The city took advantage of the historic low interest rate environment to refund two outstanding bond issues, which will result in the city reducing its existing debt service by roughly $13 million over the next 15 years. Moody’s and Fitch reaffirmed their strong ratings on the city’s 2017D Bonds at Aa2 and AA+, respectively. S&P is expected to reaffirm its AA+ rating of the city’s 2017D Bonds later this week. “These savings have the potential to accelerate funding for our priorities, such as school-related capital projects,” said Mayor Stoney. “The credit ratings additionally underscore Wall Street’s confidence in Ric...