Nashua Bond to Finance $23.7M of Project Costs

Nashua Mayor Donnalee Lozeau issued this press release May 5 on the 20-year bond issue, which will finance projects including construction for the Broad Street Parkway. 

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Mayor Donnalee Lozeau, announced that the city received competitive bids for a $21,680,000, 20-year bond issue on Thursday, May 1, 2014. Piper Jaffray was the winning bidder of the Bonds with an average interest rate of 2.96%. The City received a total of 11 bids on the Bonds.

Bond proceeds, including the premium received, will finance $23,776,000 of project costs associated with an enterprise resource planning system, school access control system, communications, wastewater projects and construction for the Broad Street Parkway.

Prior to the sale, Fitch Ratings, a municipal bond credit rating agency, affirmed the City’s underlying bond rating of AAA, the highest rating attainable. The rating agency cited the City’s diverse and expanding economic base, strong financial management, above average wealth indicators and low debt burden as positive credit factors.

Also prior to the sale, Standard and Poor’s Rating Services, another municipal bond credit rating agency, assigned a rating of ‘AA+’ to the Bonds. The rating agency cited the City’s strong economy and debt and contingent liability position, very strong liquidity and budgetary flexibility, strong budgetary performance with consistent operating results and very strong management conditions with strong financial policies and practices as positive credit factors.

Reacting to the sale, Lozeau said, "I’m pleased we were able to sell these bonds at a very competitive rate. Over the last three years the city has been able to sell bonds with a rate under 3%, which allows us to save millions in interest costs, which is certainly important to our taxpayers. As we stated earlier this year the city’s excellent bond ratings create a high demand for our bonds and allows for highly competitive bids. I am also pleased with the rating’s analysis that speaks to our strong commitment to reasonable budget increases along with our use of committed reserves and our increase in the unassigned fund balance. This achievement speaks very well of our dedicated financial staff including Treasurer David Fredette and CFO John Griffin. The excellent rating received reflects the City’s sound financial management practices and the overall good health of our city."