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City reviews plan to sell 20-year bonds to refund notes, fund downtown project
Summary
Municipal advisor Brian Cooper told Council the City plans a consolidated 20-year general-obligation bond issue to refund $8.2M of notes and provide roughly $12.7M (parameters authorize up to $14.844M) for downtown and related infrastructure; sale targeted for late May with an estimated all-in rate near 3.57%.
Brian Cooper, the City’s municipal advisor from Baker Tilly, told the Wadsworth City Council Committee of the Whole on March 10 that the administration plans to consolidate last year’s short-term notes and a new-money borrowing for downtown into a single 20-year general-obligation limited-tax bond issue.
Cooper said the planned consolidated issue would refund about $8.2 million of notes and provide roughly $12.7 million in new money for downtown design, water improvements, City Hall work, Southwest parking improvements, sewer upgrades and related downtown infrastructure, with ordinance parameters authorizing up to $14,844,000. "The current rate on those bonds all in, including all costs, was approximately a 3.57%," Cooper said, describing the expected fixed-rate structure with semiannual interest payments and maturity from December 2027 through 2046.
The municipal advisor outlined how the issue is structured for market disclosure and accounting: investors will see a single bond sale while the City keeps internal tracking for each funded project. Cooper described a financing split in which about $5.8 million of project costs are expected to be self-supporting from enterprise funds (storm, telecom, sanitary, water, electric), with the remainder likely supported by income tax or other broadly available revenues.
Council members asked about credit and market risk. Cooper said he expected the City to maintain its AA+ rating from S&P Global and explained that the ordinance process delegates the final decision to sell to the Auditor’s office so the City can pause if market conditions deteriorate. He gave a sensitivity example: a 10 basis-point rise could increase the present-value cost by about $150,000 on roughly $20 million of bonds. He also said the bonds typically include an optional redemption feature allowing the City to refund or repay early (the current analysis showed an optional redemption date of December 1, 2035).
Auditor Cathy Fix confirmed the technical mechanics; Council assigned Ordinance No. 26-041 (refunding / max $8,020,000) and Ordinance No. 26-042 (new money / max $14,844,000) and moved them to second reading. Cooper said he expected a late-May pricing and closing and offered to brief Council after the sale or return if market conditions caused material changes.
Next steps: Council will consider the bond ordinances in subsequent readings, the City will prepare an official statement for the sale and the Auditor’s office will make the final go/no-go decision if market movement is material.
