Sanitary District Saves $2.3 million through refinancing
The Novato Advance - November 22, 2017
Marinscope staff and wire report
Novato Sanitary District General Manager Sandeep Karkal announced last week that the District successfully completed the refinancing of its outstanding 2011 Certificates of Participation, which were issued to finance the District's ongoing long-term, strategic sewer system upgrade program.
"With long-term interest rates currently near historic lows, this refinancing will lower our annual debt service payments by approximately $185,000 per year for the next 14-years, saving over $2.30 million in total. The savings will provide funds for wastewater system capital improvements that would otherwise have come from ratepayers," said Karkal.
Finance Officer Laura Creamer attributed much of the success of the refinancing to the very strong operational and financial management of the District, which were cited by Standard & Poor's as key reasons why they upgraded the credit rating on the District's bonds to AA+, one of the highest ratings available.
Karkal also cited the competitive process by which the District sold the bonds, which resulted in nine investment firms submitting bids to buy the refunding bonds.
"As stewards of the public trust, we feel an obligation to talce advantage of these refinancing opportunities whenever they arise," said Karkal.
NSD has also received the Certificate of Achievement· for Excellence in Financial Reporting (CAFR) from the Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada for the past six years, and its rates are among the lowest in the County.