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CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARADVERTISER.COM
Oahu’s rail construction was progressing towards Dillingham on March 18.
The City and County of Honolulu sold general obligation bonds at the lowest borrowing cost in recent history, saving $15.8 million in debt service through refunding.
The city sold $742 million of General Obligation bonds to the public to finance projects, purchase equipment, make improvements to H-Power, the island’s waste-to-energy facility and portions of rail construction.
The average interest on the bonds sold was only 2.07% which was historically low for 25-year financing.
“This bond sale is a tremendous success for the people of our City as it will save millions of dollars for years to come,” said Mayor Rick Blangiardi.
The city’s bond rating from Fitch is a “AA+”, citing Honolulu’s “solid” revenue framework in large part due to consistent property taxes.
Moody’s Investor Services also gave the city a good bond rating at “Aa1.” It cited “prudent fiscal management”, a growing tourism industry, low unemployment levels and reducing pension liabilities as the reasons for maintaining the good rating.
BofA Securities is the lead underwriter and Piper Sandler & Co. and Stifel are the co-managers.
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