County board awards $1.05 million promissory notes to Piper Sandler amid volatile bond market

The Richland County Board on Tuesday voted to award $1,050,000 in taxable general obligation promissory notes to Piper Sandler & Co., the winning bidder on a six‑bid sale conducted after market volatility. Carol Worth of Public Finance Professionals, the county’s municipal finance adviser, told the board the bid yielded a true interest rate of 5.24% and a yield to investors of about 4.37% on the reoffering premium component.

Worth explained the notes are short‑term financing to cover capital improvement projects removed from the operating budget; the county will receive the proceeds on Nov. 22 and will repay principal and interest in full on March 1, 2023. The prospectus and notice of sale were prepared with bond counsel and distributed to underwriters; Worth said six bids were received after an initially slow response due to Federal Reserve‑driven market volatility.

Under the sale structure, $1,030,900 will be deposited into the project account for capital projects, with the remainder covering issuance costs and a small premium deposit to debt service. Worth said the cost of issuance is about $19,100 and that there are no federal arbitrage restrictions because the notes are taxable.

The board passed the resolution awarding the notes to Piper Sandler (resolution 22‑106) by voice vote.

Board members asked whether the purchaser (underwriter) would require bond insurance; Worth said no. The matter was presented to the finance and personnel committee previously and is part of the county’s short‑term debt strategy to preserve operating capacity within state levy limits.