Walker County Commissioner Shannon WhitfieldWalker County Director of Economic Development Robert Wardlaw didn’t mince words after hearing Commissioner Shannon Whitfield describe the current state of the county’s finances at the June 13 commissioner’s meeting, which detailed the refinancing of a $15.3 million bond issue from 2015.
Wardlaw said the debt refinancing was one of the most important “economic days that we had ever had, probably in the history of the county.”
The discussion came as part of Whitfield’s bimonthly meeting where Walker County’s lone decision maker explained the benefits of the county refinancing the bond. The new $14.7 million bond issue will carry a shorter term and be at a lower interest rate – not to exceed 4.9% versus the original 7.5% – which will generate the expected savings, said Whitfield.
“We have restored the financial credibility of our county and we are going to save the taxpayers $2 [million] to $3 million,” he said after the meeting. “We look at this (bond refinancing) as the real big turn for the county government after a lot of sacrifices. The proof is that we have outside bonding companies and credit rating companies tell us that we are an investment grade, quality risk.”
Former Commissioner Bebe Heiskell issued $15.3 million in bonds in 2015, using county assets as collateral for the bonds, to provide cash needed to keep the county operating. The assets included the Civic Center, Agricultural Center, Mountain Cove Farms and vacant parcels of land at the Rock Spring and LaFayette industrial parks.