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Markham cites credit upgrade, moves to refund most outstanding bonds
Summary
City officials said an improved credit rating to BBB enabled opportunities to refund about $19.3 million in outstanding bonds without creating new debt; staff and PMA Securities outlined options and legal limits on using tax-exempt refunding for some issues.
Markham officials told the City Council on Jan. 7 that a recent upgrade of the city's credit rating opens an opportunity to refinance most outstanding debt.
Finance Director Christina McClurkin said the rating moved from Double D Plus to Triple B, making the city investment-grade eligible and giving the Treasurer's Office room to refund bonds issued in 2008, 2009 and 2012. "We plan to refund bonds by the year they were acquired," McClurkin said, and emphasized the plan does not create new debt.
The Council heard a longer explanation from Andrew Kim of PMA Securities, who described market conditions and the refunding analysis, noting municipal interest rates have fallen since April 2025 and the Federal Reserve's December rate cut also influenced pricing. Kim said the city has "approximately $19.3 million in outstanding bonds" and that most could be refunded; he added, "We're matching the same exact footprint of the maturities of each of the bonds."
Council members asked whether the refundings could be executed on a tax-exempt basis. McClurkin cautioned that legal rules tied to how proceeds were used may prevent the city from certifying tax-exempt status for some issues. "There are legal requirements for the City to refund the bonds on a tax-exempt basis," she said, adding that further documentation would be required to confirm exemptions for particular prior uses.
The City Attorney read the caption of a related ordinance authorizing up to $15 million in general obligation refunding bonds. Officials said the focus of the plan is to capture savings for property owners while maintaining the existing maturity schedule and not extending the overall debt timeline.
