Strategic Planning/Bonding/Capital Improvement
General Obligation State-Aid Road Bonds
General Obligation State-Aid Road Bonds are defined by Minnesota Statute 162.181 and can only be used for state-aid highways in the County, and, these do not count towards the County’s net debt limit. The debt service for the bonds comes directly from the annual state allocations for funding. The bond principle is paid from the state-aid construction allotment and the interest is paid directly from the state-aid maintenance allotment.
By bonding for $10,000,000.00, slightly less than the maximum amount allowed by statute, it was estimated we can complete 14 road projects in 2017. By moving forward with this bond, we will begin to catch up on road maintenance and leverage the very low interest rates, the county’s high bond rating and take advantage of the lower oil prices and continued lower project costs as compared to the higher costs we saw two to three years ago.
On December 8, 2016, the Board of Commissioners adopted Resolution 201657 authorizing issuance, awarding sale, prescribing the form and details and providing for the payment of $9,505,000 General Obligation State Aid Road Bonds, Series 2016A.
General Obligation Capital Improvement Bonds
General Obligation Capital Improvement Bonds are authorized under Minnesota Statute 373.40. With the guidance of Northland Securities as our Financial Advisor and Dorsey & Whitney as our bond counsel a 5-year capital improvement plan has been developed. 15 qualified projects have been identified to be funded by the bonds totaling an estimated $6,424,000.
A 30 day public comment period started upon approval of the resolution approving the 5-Year Capital Improvement Plan and authorizing the issuance and sale of General Obligation Capital Improvement Plan Bonds and will terminate on February 9, 2017.