Coeur d'Alene approves $16.4M bond sale authorization, authorizes purchase of four engines and a ladder truck

The Coeur d'Alene City Council on Aug. 5 adopted an ordinance authorizing the issuance and sale of up to $16.4 million in general-obligation bonds and approved purchase agreements for four fire engines and one ladder truck to be funded from the bond proceeds.

The bond ordinance, described by municipal advisor Michael Merritt as necessary to deliver the projects voters approved, sets parameters for a 10-year borrowing plan and delegates authority to city officers to finalize sale terms. "We're very close to what we said," Merritt told the council, describing recent market movement and a planned pricing date of Aug. 19. Bond counsel Danielle Quaid said the ordinance caps interest at 4 percent without council reauthorization and authorizes the mayor or delegated officers to sign the bond purchase agreement after pricing.

The council then approved two purchase agreements with Hughes Fire Equipment totaling $6,221,422: $4,240,000 for four fire engines and $1,981,000 for one ladder truck. Lucas, a fire-department representative who presented the purchase terms to council, said vendors will invoice in mid-August and prepayment would be due roughly 30 days later; he added delivery time is estimated at 38 to 40 months.

Merritt, the city's municipal advisor, described the market process the city will follow: rating receipt on Aug. 6, distribution of an official statement to investors, pre-pricing the day before the sale and taking orders on Aug. 19. "On the day of the sell ... we will be working with staff," he said, noting a typical 90-minute order period and the mechanics of oversubscription and negotiations with the underwriter. Quaid explained that delegating pricing authority to staff allows the city to respond to market moves on a sale day while remaining within the limits the council set.

Council members and staff said the purchases align with equipment timelines and the life expectancy of apparatus. City administrators said the bonds will be repaid via property-tax levies set under Idaho law and that voted general-obligation bonds may include urban-renewal value for levy calculations.

The ordinance and the purchase agreements passed in separate votes during the meeting. The municipal-advisor presentation and the bond ordinance discussion are scheduled to be followed by market pricing and a Sept. 3 closing if the sale proceeds as planned.