Commissioners approve application to create Hunterdon County Improvement Authority to lower municipal borrowing costs

The Hunterdon County Board of County Commissioners authorized an application to the Local Finance Board in the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs to form a Hunterdon County Improvement Authority, a municipal lending vehicle designed to help towns reduce borrowing costs, county officials said.

"Participation by town is entirely voluntary," County Administrator Meyer told commissioners. An independent analysis by Phoenix Advisors cited by county staff estimated that municipal taxpayers could have saved nearly $700,000 in interest over the past two years had a similar pooled program been available.

Administrator Meyer described the program as a shared-services step that allows municipalities to leverage the county’s strong bond rating. "This is at no risk to the county. No conceivable risk," Meyer said, adding that the county would not itself borrow when municipalities use the authority; the program would aggregate municipal borrowing to achieve economies of scale.

Commissioners moved and seconded the application and approved it on a roll-call vote. County officials said they had received letters of interest from municipal leaders and expected participation to be voluntary. Meyer and other speakers also cited a Monmouth County pooled note program as a real-world example in which pooled municipal issuance yielded materially lower interest rates.

Why it matters: If municipalities opt in, the pooled borrowing could reduce interest costs on capital purchases such as road work, emergency vehicles and other local investments. County officials said the authority would include safeguards to protect the county if a municipality defaulted.

Ending: The board authorized the application; the county will formally submit materials to the Division of Local Government Services to start the Local Finance Board review process.