Township officials are hoping to take advantage of current interest rates and a positive bond rating from Moody’s.
Cherry Hill Township Council is hoping to take advantage of current interest rates through the combination of more than 30 different individual bonds and notes into a single, general obligation bond.
Council approved three resolutions at its meeting last Tuesday to combine numerous general improvement and sewer utility bonds into one large general bond. The township will put the bond up for sale on Thursday, Sept. 27.
Mayor Chuck Cahn said the township decided to consolidate its old bonds and notes to secure a strong interest rate. Township officials anticipate interest rates will go up in the future and with the township’s current high bond rating of Aa2 from Moody’s, Cahn said they believe it is a good time to consolidate the bonds.
“Most of our capital projects are through short-term notes,” Cahn said. “Because of the ability to go out and secure long-term debt and get better interest rates, we’re taking the short-term notes that we roll over every year and aggregating (them).”
Cahm emphasized the resolutions involve aggregating old bonds and the township is not taking out new bonds with these resolutions.
“We’re replacing old debt with new debt, more secure debt,” he said.
Combined, all of the bonds and notes total approximately $40.8 million. The first resolution council passed will combine 20 general improvement bonds worth approximately $34.5 million into the new bond. The old bonds were approved between 2006 and 2017 and nearly all of them were used to pay for various capital improvements.
The second resolution council passed contains 12 sewer utility bonds the township took out between 2006 and 2017. Together, the sewer bonds total approximately $6.28 million.
“We’ve been borrowing money for capital improvements over the last number of years going back to 2005 and 2006, for ordinary business, road improvements, capital improvements including sewer improvements as well,” Cahn said about the bonds.
Cahn added the current bonds have different interest rates and noted consolidating everything into one interest rate will allow for more predictability from a financial perspective.
“It will lock in our interest rates for the foreseeable future,” Cahn said. “It’s a very positive move for the township.”
The final resolution council passed packages the general improvement bonds and the sewer utility bonds into one, $40,811,000 general obligation bond. The resolution also has a schedule listing how much of the principal amount will mature each year. The entire principal of the general improvement bonds is scheduled to mature in 2027 and the sewer utility bonds’ principal will mature in 2039, according to the resolution.
The general obligation bond will be put out for sale on Thursday, Sept. 27 at 11 a.m.
In other news:
· Council adopted an ordinance changing the township’s laws on when alcoholic beverages can be sold in Cherry Hill. Previously, the township did not allow alcohol to be served or sold prior to 11 a.m. on Sundays. The new ordinance will allow alcohol to be served beginning at 7 a.m. on Sunday. Council president David Fleisher said the ordinance puts Sunday sale hours in line with the other six days of the week and is consistent with ordinances in surrounding towns.
· A resolution was approved for the police department to acquire six new 2019 police sports utility vehicles. The vehicles will be purchased from Winner Ford for a cost of about $337,000.
Chief of Police William Monaghan said the vehicles would be replacing six older vehicles that are reaching the end of their service life with the department.
“SUVs are extremely important in our operational deployment for weather emergencies due to their increased height, as well as during snow emergencies,” Monaghan said.
· Cherry Hill Township Council will hold a special meeting on Friday, Sept. 21, at 5 p.m. at the municipal building. A public hearing and adoption vote on the township’s Fiscal Year 2019 budget is scheduled to take place at the meeting. The township’s meeting originally scheduled for Monday, Sept. 24, has been cancelled.
