By: Donovan W. Mann – donovanm@977thebolt.com
Dakota City, IA – Humboldt County is exploring refinancing options for paying off the costs of upgrading the equipment at the Law Enforcement Center.
On Monday, Aug. 10, during the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors meeting they discussed the idea of bonding to pay off their lease with Motorola. The lease covers the majority of the expenses involved with upgrading the LEC radio equipment and software. The county also hopes to add a few other expenses to the bonds.
Senior Vice President with D.A. Davidson and Company Michael Maloney presented his estimates to the board via teleconference. Maloney says that rates are historically low at this point in time so refinancing the two year old lease is not a bad idea. His estimate shows that the true interest cost to the county would be at about 1.19 percent but could change until the rate is officially locked in.
Supervisor Bruce Reimers brought up the idea of including more of the county’s substantial debt to the bonds. With this point being made the supervisors wanted to take some more time to make sure they got a complete list of expenses they wanted to include in the bonding. The lease with Motorola is also a LEC board matter and needed their approval. They held a special meeting on Wednesday, Aug. 12 where they approved the lease to be bonded.
The board of supervisors plans to revisit the idea of bonding and refinancing the lease with Motorola during their meeting on Monday, Aug. 17.