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Kankakee bond rating rises; city may go to market this week or next
Summary
City officials told the budget committee on Sept. 8 that Kankakee’s bond rating was upgraded to A‑minus (stable). Officials said bond insurance and initial bids came in below performance targets and a decision on whether to sell bonds will be made tomorrow; the sale is tentatively scheduled for Sept. 11 or Sept. 16.
KANKAKEE, Ill. — City officials told the Budget Committee on Sept. 8 that Kankakee’s bond rating has been upgraded to A‑minus (stable) and the city is preparing to market a bond sale either Thursday, Sept. 11, or Tuesday, Sept. 16. Mayor (name not stated) said the rating move returns the city “back into the A’s” and called the change “positive news.”
The upgrade could reduce borrowing costs for the planned general‑obligation sale. Officials reported that bond insurance on the ESU bonds was priced at 0.45 and that performance targets had been set at 0.65 basis points; a 20‑year general‑obligation low bid came in at 0.64. “They’re either going to market on Thursday, the eleventh, or they’ll be going on the sixteenth,” the mayor said, and added the city would know whether to proceed “tomorrow morning.”
Committee members and staff described the timing as market‑dependent: interest rates had “creeped down just a bit,” and staff said they were monitoring rates before deciding to issue. No formal action or vote was taken during the meeting; officials said staff would confirm the go/no‑go decision the morning after the meeting.
The mayor and staff said the city also bought required bond insurance and that incoming pricing should yield some savings versus the budgeted performance assumptions. Officials did not state a final par amount for the sale during the discussion.
Next steps: staff will decide whether to take the bonds to market on Sept. 11 or on Sept. 16 and report back to the committee. No motion or vote was recorded on the issuance during the Sept. 8 meeting.
