By John W. Feary, Claremore City Manager

The detail work involved in municipal government is often overlooked, and a little boring if I’m being honest.  However, having a strong proactive financial strategy can result in hundreds of thousands in savings, so I am going to attempt to peak your interest with talk of municipal bonds.

Claremore utilizes municipal bonds to fund capital expenditures for developments such as parks, libraries, bridges and roads, and other infrastructure projects. Think of them as loans that investors make to local governments. Just as with any loan, a low interest rate results in big savings during repayment.

As reported at this week’s City Council meeting, Claremore will consolidate and refinance four existing bonds. We were able to secure a very low interest rate for each bond, which previously ranged from 3.8% to 2.4% in interest.  All four bonds were consolidated into a new interest rate of 1.59%, which will result in $700,000 in savings over the next 14 years.  That equates to annual savings of about $50,000.

By saving these funds, we will be able to use these resources for other projects and services.   I look forward to sharing with you soon our recent accomplishments and future plans for Claremore.  I will be giving the annual State of the City address, hosted by the Claremore Area Chamber of Commerce, on February 18.

Thank you for your continued interest in Claremore.

John