Needham Select Board approves $172,000 state house note at 8.75% to bridge sewer project financing

The Needham Select Board voted unanimously April 7 to approve the sale of a $172,000 general obligation state house note to Oppenheimer & Co. at an interest rate of 8.75 percent, payable June 26, 2025, to provide short-term financing for the town’s South Street sewer project.

Dave James, a town staff member, told the board the note is temporary financing and “this particular note carries some exceptionally high interest rate … 8.75 percent,” explaining that short-term, low-dollar notes typically carry higher rates and that recent market turmoil reduced bidder interest. “We only had one bid for the note,” James said, and he described rate volatility as a short-term market reaction; he noted that other recent notes were selling in the mid-5 percent range and that a Bedford sale a week earlier…