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State Treasurer adopts two bond-refunding resolutions expected to save Washington about $92.4 million
Summary
At a May 6 meeting, the Office of the State Treasurer adopted two refunding resolutions — $548.71 million in various-purpose GO bonds and $241.87 million in MVFT-related GO bonds — that officials said will yield roughly $65.4 million and $27.0 million in present-value savings, respectively; no public comment was received.
State Treasurer Mike Palachciotti on May 6 presided over a state finance committee meeting that adopted two bond-refunding resolutions designed to lower the state’s future debt-service costs.
Deputy Treasurer Jason Richter presented the larger of the two measures, Resolution 13-09, as an award of $548,710,000 in various-purpose general obligation refunding bonds, Series R-2026C, saying the current refunding targets callable 2017 bonds originally issued for capital projects. "The interest rates that we received as part of this bid process will reduce debt service by, on a present value basis, $65,400,000 or 10.9% when we compare it to the amount of par that we're refunding," Richter said.
Richter said the transaction was split into two bid groups (2026–2029 and 2030–2041) to widen participation. For the shorter group the state received eight bids and Bank of America won that component; the longer group received six tight bids and Morgan Stanley was awarded that portion.
Piper Sandler municipal adviser Rob Shelley told the committee the market backdrop had been "rather volatile recently with all of the activities going on within the, the Iran conflict in The Middle East," but that the sales nonetheless produced strong participation and competitive pricing. "To get 8 bids out there, and some aggressive rates, I think it was a very strong showing for the state," Shelley said.
Richter then presented Resolution 13-10 to refund motor vehicle fuel tax and vehicle-related-fees general obligation bonds, Series R-2026D, awarding $241,870,000. He said the transaction produces approximately $26,978,000 in present-value savings — "Let's call it $27,000,000, 10.17%" — for the state and that bidding across maturities was tight.
Sean Rye of Montague to Rose, introduced earlier by Richter as part of the municipal advisory teams, said overlapping maturities showed depth of demand and that Morgan Stanley bought a sizable portion of both transactions at aggressive yields.
Hearing no public comment, and after the advisors’ remarks, Treasurer Palachciotti said he would adopt both resolutions. He emphasized the combined present-value savings of roughly $92,400,000 for the people of the state of Washington and placed the bond work in broader context: "It's just a little over 5 years, $970,300,000 in net value savings since 2021," he said.
The meeting record does not show a roll-call vote; the resolutions were adopted after the treasurer called for comments and heard none. The committee also approved minutes from the Feb. 10, 2026 bond-sale meeting and included a brief recognition of longtime bond counsel Bill Tonkin of Foster Garvey, who acknowledged this would likely be his last state finance committee meeting before retirement.
The meeting adjourned after the adoptions and remarks; staff confirmed there were no in-person or online public speakers who requested to comment.
