Lawrence city commissioners voted Tuesday to allow the city to sell revenue bonds to fund about $26.5 million of water and sewage system projects.
Rachelle Mathews, director of finance for the city, told the commission that revenue bonds are solely paid by the revenues of system benefiting from the projects — in this case, utility fees. Revenue bonds do not rely on property taxes, she said.
The projects will “repair, alter, extend, reconstruct, enlarge or improve” water and sewer systems, including at the Kansas River and Wakarusa River wastewater treatment facilities, according to the meeting agenda.
Mayor Brad Finkeldei asked about the current financial situation and bond market, and whether the city expects results to be markedly different than if this had happened a few months ago.
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Khalen Dwyer, managing director of Columbia Capital Management, the city’s municipal adviser, told the commission that interest rates have indeed increased even in the past few weeks.
However, “We advise clients typically to enter the market when it’s time from a policy perspective or a fiscal perspective — to borrow money when you need it and not try to speculate as to the direction of interest rates,” Dwyer said.
City staff asked the commission to authorize the bonds to be sold on Nov. 17. Afterward, during their meeting that evening, the commissioners “will be asked to name the purchaser of the bonds based on the sale earlier that day along with their final terms and conditions.”
No members of the public commented to the commission about the bonds.
Project costs total $26.46 million, according to the agenda item. They were included in the approved capital improvement plan. See a list of the projects at this link.
Finkeldei, Vice Mayor Mike Courtney, and Commissioners Amber Sellers and Mike Dever voted in favor of issuing the bonds. Commissioner Kristine Polian was not present.
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Mackenzie Clark (she/her), reporter/founder of The Lawrence Times, can be reached at [email protected]. Read more of her work for the Times here. Check out her staff bio here.
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