Heidi Amspaugh from Baker Tilly presented information to the Marshall County Council Monday morning concerning the potential refunding of the 2014 bonds for the Marshall County Jail.
Currently, the county has an outstanding bond amount of $5 million with a current interest rate of 4 percent with $569,000 in interest payments through the bond maturity day of February 2, 2027. Amspaugh said if the bonds were refunded, the county would see a lower interest rate and save about $316,000 in interest. The Principal outstanding would be $4,175,000 and the annual payment would drop $236,000 a year with a potential interest rate of 2.5 percent through the rest of the term. The release of the Debt Service Reserve Fund would help pay down the bonds if the bonds are refunded.
The call date is August 1, 2022 and the closing could occur in June should the county move forward with refinancing.
Councilmen Jesse Bohannon and Tim Harman questioned the need to refinance the bonds. They commented that the county would not see an actual savings to the action. Bohannon thought the bonds could be paid down to $500,000 and then the county could still have the LIT rate in place, but Amspaugh cautioned doing that saying that the county should try and keep as much money in the LIT fund until the bond matures.
The county has worked to extend the LIT rate, but it did not make it to the General Assembly this year. Harman said he has discussed it with the county’s state representatives that it will be heard in 2023.
After a long discussion, the council was not required to take any action during the meeting Monday. The commissioners voted last week to move forward with refinancing. A resolution would be presented to the commissioners during their May 2 meeting and the council will consider the resolution during their May 9 meeting. The Building Corporation members would also need to meet to consider the resolution.
