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The savings come as a result of the recent refinancing of County bonds.
“Strong fiscal management and conservative budgeting practices have once again delivered savings for taxpayers,” said County Executive Molinaro during the announcement. “Thanks to our impressive AA+ bond rating making our county bonds highly sought after and good timing in the market, we were able to secure an even lower interest rate than anticipated, saving almost $300,000 more than anticipated.”
The Dutchess County Department of Finance gained approval from the County Legislature in March to refinance bonds that had originally been issued in 2010 and 2011 for a variety of projects intended to take advantage on dropping interest rates.
Originally, the bond refund was estimated at $466,000 in net savings. The effective interest rate on the new bonds is 1.71 percent, compared to 3.18 percent on the former bonds.
As a whole, the refinancing is expected to reduce the County’s annual debt service $50,000 to $100,000 in the next several years.
“Thanks to the fiscal stewardship of our dedicated Finance Department and Budget Office, Dutchess County is well known as a solid investment,” said County Executive Molinaro. “We are grateful to the County Legislature for its swift action last month to authorize this bond refinancing, allowing us to capitalize on market timing to optimize taxpayer savings.”
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