Strafford County commissioners award $24 million tax-anticipation borrowing to lowest bidder

The Strafford County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously to award a $24,000,000 tax-anticipation borrowing to the lowest bidder, Speaker 2 reported during the board’s meeting. "The lowest bid is from Northway Bank at 3.55% for the full $24,000,000 that we're looking to borrow, for a period of January 3rd through December 30, 2025," Speaker 2 said.

The bids were due at 11 a.m.; the board received three bids, Speaker 2 said. Speaker 2 also reported that M&T Bank called in a modified rate of 3.74%, but the board recorded Northway Bank as the low bidder and proceeded to move and second a motion to award the borrowing to that institution. The motion passed on a roll call vote recorded by the chair: Commissioner Rolle, Commissioner Watkins and one other present member voted yes. "The vote is unanimous," Speaker 1 stated after the roll call.

Board staff were instructed to complete the certificate of the board and prepare documents for signature. Speaker 2 told the commissioners they would meet at 9 a.m. the next morning to authorize and sign the necessary documents.

The meeting included technical difficulties at the start that briefly delayed proceedings; the board noted the meeting had been suspended during that period and that no substantive business was missed. The session then moved on to brief administrative items and adjourned after the signing-schedule confirmation.

Clarifying details in the record: the borrowing amount was stated as $24,000,000; the low bid was reported at 3.55% for the full amount and the loan period was given as Jan. 3 through Dec. 30, 2025. The transcript contains an inconsistency in the lender name: Speaker 2 refers to the low bidder as "Northway Bank," while Speaker 1 later vocalized the bank name in a way transcribed as "North Lee Bank." The board record and this article use "Northway Bank" as reported at the bid announcement; the transcript also references M&T Bank and a 3.74% returned bid.

Next steps: board members are to sign the certificate and loan documents at a scheduled 9 a.m. meeting the following morning. No other formal actions or ordinance votes were recorded in this session.