Johnson County budget and financial planning staff told the Board of County Commissioners on Sept. 25 they plan to offer approximately $60,310,000 of general obligation internal improvement bonds, Series 2025A, to fund several capital projects.

Leslie Friedel, budget and financial planning, said the county expects to go to market on Oct. 22 and return the following day for board approval of the sale. The preliminary principal amount is about $60,310,000; bond proceeds will fund four projects, the first two of which are wastewater projects previously approved by the board, she said. The two wastewater projects are roughly $40 million each in total project size and are being financed approximately 50% with cash and 50% with bond proceeds, Friedel said.

Friedel said the bond proceeds will also fund airport T-hangars, which will be paid with hanger revenues, and continued GO bonds for infrastructure at New Century Commerce Center; the New Century portion includes capitalized interest with a 30-year repayment structure and deferred principal in early years similar to the 2023 financing structure used for that center. She told commissioners a pre-issuance report from municipal adviser Baker Tilly showed preliminary tax-exempt interest-rate projections near 4.6 percent and that the county usually achieves lower final rates than early projections.

Commissioners asked about the meaning of coupon rates and the true interest cost; Friedel said the county uses true interest cost to evaluate bids and anticipated a sale premium that could require resizing the issue on the day of sale. “Our goal is to make sure we cover the project cost of $60,863,000 plus any other cost of financing that are associated with it,” she said. No formal sale or adoption vote is recorded in the agenda-review audio excerpt; materials reference Resolution No. 119-25 authorizing the offering for sale of the bonds.