North Bergen has sold $31,200,000 in general improvement bonds following a sale on April 12. The move followed a consolidation of the bonds in March.
Township Clerk Erin Barillas read the results of the bond sale aloud at the start of the most recent North Bergen Board of Commissioners meeting on April 20.
“On April 12, 2022, the township of North Bergen adopted a $31,200,000 general improvement bond sale,” Barillas said.
The winning bidder was Mesirow Financial with a net interest cost of 3.6 percent. According to Barillas, six bidders participated in the sale.
On the same day, the township also held a sale for bond anticipation notes. Barillas said North Bergen adopted a $13,813,000 bond anticipation note sale on April 12.
There were four bidders who participated in that sale, Barillas said. The winning bid was TD Securities with a net interest cost of 1.9 percent.
After Barillas read the results of the sale, Chief Financial Officer Robert Pittfield broke down the ordinance at the request of Mayor Nicholas Sacco, noting the rates were lower than normal.
“The rates are generally higher,” Pittfield said. “The bond market was climbing and climbing. But that was the week, that Monday I believe they just announced the inflation rates. That had an impact.”
Pittfield added, however, that the amount of bidders for each sale was an encouraging sign.
“On the plus side, the activity for our bonds and notes, with four for the notes and six for the bond, that’s a good sign,” Pitffield said. “Without that activity, our rates would be much higher.”
He added the township’s high Moody’s Analytics rating, currently at Aa2 which is one of the higher rankings, also “had everything to do with it.”
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