The City of Mount Vernon is looking to take advantage of cheap money by borrowing to complete some capital projects.
City administrator Chris Nosbisch worked with Spears Financial on a $1.75 million bond that could be used to fund several capital projects that are among the council goals, these include remodeling the Mount Vernon-Lisbon Police Station, which used to be a church building, repairing Palisades Road and adding storage for the public works site.
“With interest rates still remain relatively low, it makes fiscal sense to couple these projects into a single issuance without depleting cash reserves,” Nosbisch told the council in a memo.
Other funding sources are likely for some other projects. The city will likely use American Rescue Plan money to fund the change to remote read water meters. Iowa Department of Transportation funds will be used for Hwy. 30 improvements. The city will be looking at another $1.5 million to $1.6 million state revolving fund borrowing to cover the remaining nutrient reduction strategies at the wastewater treatment facility, Nosbisch said. Interest rates are generally low for that fund and it will be repaid from sewer revenue.
Nosbisch seemed pretty comfortable with the city’s debt level with the only possible upcoming project being a new or reconstructed pool.
But those decisions are more than a year away, and the city is considering hiring a consultant to help inform the project.