Big savings for taxpayers buy paying off some debt
Ross County refinanced $4,435,000 of outstanding bonds last Thursday at lower interest rates, yielding a taxpayer savings of over $400,000 in interest payments.
These bonds were originally issued in 2003 and 2004 to finance Veterans Parkway, the county’s share of the new Juvenile Detention Center and improvements to the Ross County Service Center. The average interest rate on the new ten year bonds is about 1.9%. The refunded bonds interest rates were in the 4% range.
As part of the process, Moody’s Investors’ Services of New York, reaffirmed Ross County’s excellent bond rating of Aa2. This rating told investors that the bonds offered by Ross County were low-risk, making them more attractive to buyers at lower interest rates.
Auditor Steve Neal said the bond rating has helped the county join the Retrospective Rating Program for Workers Compensation which resulted in savings of over $800,000 in premiums since 2009.
