HARFORD COUNTY, MD—Harford County held its annual bond sale on Tuesday, borrowing funds at the lowest interest rates in county history to pay for capital improvement projects.
The county sold $40 million in consolidated public improvement bonds at 2% to winning bidder R.W. Baird & Co. The bonds will fund more than 70 projects including school facilities, roads, watershed restorations, and water and sewer projects.
Harford County also saved $11.6 million over 10 years by refunding $103 million in existing bonds at a lower interest rate. The existing bonds with an effective rate of 3.5% were refunded Tuesday at 1.36% with winning bidder Citibank.
Low interest rates reduce the cost of borrowing and are available to highly rated bond issuers.
Harford County is one of an estimated 2% of counties nationwide with the highest possible AAA-bond rating from all three major independent bond-rating agencies: Fitch, Moody’s, and Standard & Poor’s.
All three agencies cited Harford County’s strong fiscal management in their most recent rating reports.
“Today’s bond sale at historically low interest rates will save taxpayers’ money for years to come,” said Harford County Executive Barry Glassman. “These rates also show that the financial markets have faith in Harford County as a sound investment over the long term and confirm that our strong fiscal management has served the county well, especially in these uncertain times. I would like to thank my Treasury and Budget teams for helping us realize these outstanding results on behalf of the citizens we serve.”
A complete list of funded projects is accessible online:
Consolidated Public Improvement Bonds
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