Kendall County Board members are considering refinancing bonds used to pay for the new Kendall County Courthouse to save up to $1.6 million during the next three years.
Board members recently began consideration of the refinancing of about $42.2 million in bonds the county still owes and which were passed in three issues in 2007, 2008 and 2009. Under the proposal from the board’s financial adviser, Speer Financial Inc. of Chicago, the board would do a refinancing during each of the next three years.
The first under immediate consideration is a 2008 issue, which the board would look at refinancing soon.
“Right now, interest rates are extremely low,” a Speer Financial adviser told the board at its meeting of the committee of the whole. “I suggest you get moving on this issue, take the savings on this (2008) deal and see how it goes.”
In the first deal, the county would save an estimated $434,318.
The adviser said the savings would be about 7.8 percent. They usually recommend refinancing if the savings are 3.5 percent or more.
The county would not take a savings like that in a lump sum. Instead, it would look at reducing how much they pay in debt-service payments each year. For instance, under one scenario, the county would reduce its payment for 2017 from $3.62 million to $3.52 million. That money is paid from the county’s public safety sales tax.
“The idea was to reduce future payments,” the adviser said.
The County Board’s finance committee is considering the move, which does not need a vote from the full board.
