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Clifton council approves renewal of $10 million anticipation note amid calls for bond committee meeting
Summary
Clifton Municipal Council voted to renew a $10,000,000 anticipation note due in May after debate over timing, costs and the absence of a bond committee meeting; members urged scheduling a bond committee session with bond counsel and Phoenix Advisors before future actions.
Clifton Municipal Council voted to renew an anticipation note that covers $10,000,000 and is due in May, a move council members said was necessary to prevent an immediate cash shortfall.
The vote came after several council members criticized the appearance of the item on the agenda without a prior bond committee meeting in which bond counsel and Phoenix Advisors could present options. Council members said renewal is a stopgap until a planned bond sale this summer could be completed.
Council members described two basic options: renew the note so the city has time to arrange payment or locate $10,000,000 to pay the obligation when it matures. Members also emphasized that refinancing and splitting bond sales can increase costs. One council member said the prior majority had split a $20,000,000 sale into two $10,000,000 issues, which increased overall costs compared with a single sale.
Multiple council members urged scheduling a bond committee meeting “ASAP” with bond counsel and Phoenix Advisors to allow professionals time to prepare an official statement and obtain a bond rating if the council moves from a note to a bond sale. The council heard from the Chief Financial Officer that the note must be renewed by May.
On the motion to approve the resolution to renew the anticipation note, the council recorded four yes votes, one no, one abstention and one absent; the motion carried. Council members requested that a bond committee meeting be scheduled immediately to discuss timing, bond counsel selection and potential sale structure before any future refinancing or bond issuance.
Council members also raised procedural concerns that the item repeatedly appears on agendas without the committee process that had previously been used to prepare members for a bond decision. Several members said that practice has added avoidable cost and reduced transparency.
The council did not adopt a detailed sale plan at the meeting; members said that would be the subject of the requested bond committee meeting and future agenda items.
