County Expects to Save $2.2 Million by Refinancing Bonds

The same low interest rates that have pensioners gnashing their teeth should help Lehigh County save about $2 million by refinancing nearly $35 million in bonds.

County commissioners gave Concord Public Financial Advisors the go-ahead to hold a bidding auction on the Internet on July 27 to get the lowest interest rate to refinance bonds from 2001.  Commissioners will learn the results in time for their meeting that evening.

The county is currently paying 5 percent interest on the bonds  and can probably expect a new fixed rate of between 1.2 percent and 2.650 percent, according to Concord principal Daryl S. Peck. 

Even with fees paid to the bond counsel, financial advisors and other costs, the county could expect to save about $2.2 million in 2011 and 2012, Peck said.

The 2001 bonds funded various capital projects, said Tom Muller, county director of administration.

In 2010, the county saved about $900,000 when it refinanced about $17 million in bonds, Muller said. “There are some good things in a down market,” he said.