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St. Mary's County commissioners authorize $30 million bond award; winning interest rate 3.93%
Summary
Commissioners authorized the county administrator to accept a $30 million bond bid that yielded a winning interest rate of about 3.93%, a 20.5-year term and roughly $1.59 million in bond premium; proceeds will support highways, schools, public facilities and other capital projects.
St. Mary's County commissioners on May 6 authorized the county administrator to accept the certified winning bid on a $30 million bond sale, approving a winning interest rate of approximately 3.93% and a 20.5-year term.
The approval came after county finance staff reported the sale attracted 12 bids, above the historic norm. Michelle Van Cleef, county finance staff, said the result was “very happy with that” and noted the winning yield “was 3.93.” Joy Sapp, the county deputy finance officer, told commissioners the bond issue produced a premium of about $1,588,000; after transaction costs (including the underwriter’s discount) of roughly $276,000, the net premium available to the county was reported as about $1.3 million.
County officials and outside bond specialists listed high-level capital uses for the issue, including highway projects, regional water quality work (Johnson Farm Pond), road and safety improvements, culvert replacement, public facilities work for the adult detention center and airport, school improvements (Park Hall, Dinyard, Leonardtown Marshall Dent and Piney Point elementary schools), parks and recreation facility work including the gymnastics center, and solid waste improvements for the Clements Convenience Center.
Commissioners moved and seconded a motion authorizing the county administrator to accept the certified bid; the motion passed on a voice vote. The authorization allows staff to finalize acceptance and proceed with issuing the bonds and applying proceeds to the listed capital projects.
The county noted the 20.5-year term is slightly longer than staff’s suggested 20-year target; staff said that was a highlight for commissioners to note. Bond counsel and the county’s underwriting advisor were present on the call for technical questions.
Funding details and next steps: staff said premium dollars will be reduced by transaction costs and underwriter discount before county use; the precise allocations of bond proceeds to individual projects will follow the county’s capital project accounting process and any related procurement or grant conditions.
Commissioners did not identify any statutory citations during the discussion; the item proceeded as a routine financing authorization by majority vote.
