At the August 19 Elk River City Council meeting, council awarded the sale of sales tax revenue bonds to fund the Active Elk River project for recreation facility and park improvements. The $35 million issue was approved by nearly 65% of voters last November.
The city, on the strength of an AA+ bond rating by Standard & Poor’s, received seven bids. The project and the credit rating resulted in investors bidding the bonds with a true interest rate of 2.35%. Due to investor’s confidence in Elk River, the sale of $32,715,000 bonds provide for a premium offering totaling $35 million. The interest rate was nearly 50 basis points lower than projected with a savings of roughly $2.5 million dollars over 25 years.
Standard & Poor affirmed the AA+ rating noting Elk River’s excellent financial practices and policies, flexible liquidity, very strong management and the growing local economy.
Two of the Active Elk River projects – construction of the new Multipurpose Facility and improvements to Lion John Weicht Park – are already underway. Learn more about Active Elk River here.