Board backs recommendation to use SPLOST funds to pay off GPO loan, cites modest interest savings

The Albany Utility Board on Oct. 9 voted to recommend that the City Commission consider using SPLOST funds to retire a GPO loan issued for the East–West interceptor project.

Staff briefed the board on an early‑payoff calculation provided by GPO and said the available payoff figure is in the neighborhood of $10 million. "We would save about $359,000 worth of interest in the future," a finance presenter said, and staff proposed reallocating $615,000 from SPLOST 5 toward the payment and adjusting SPLOST 6 request amounts accordingly.

Board members pressed for clearer documentation before the item goes to the commission. The chair asked staff to prepare a more detailed explanation of the loan history, the sources of SPLOST revenue proposed for the payoff, and the tradeoffs between preserving low‑cost credit and freeing up debt capacity. "When this goes to city commission ... we need a more detailed explanation of what this is," the chair said.

Supporters argued that paying off the loan would reduce long‑term indebtedness and may increase borrowing capacity for future projects; critics noted the loan’s low interest rate and warned that repaying low‑cost debt now reduces a source of cheap credit. The board ultimately voted to recommend that the commission pay the loan using SPLOST 5, 6 and 7 funds and to bring back formal resolutions and supporting materials.

Next steps: staff will prepare the recommended resolution and supporting financial analysis for the City Commission, and will detail the exact payoff figure at the time of the city‑level vote.