The city of Cottonwood has found a way to save money as well as a way to improve its water system.
The news was finalized publicly last week when the Cottonwood City Council signed off on a new deal with the Water Infrastructure Finance Authority of Arizona at its May 19 meeting.
WIFA is a state agency that works with municipalities to improve water and sewer systems.
In 2004, the city issued around $10 million worth of bonds to help finance water projects, including part of the city’s effort to acquire and assimilate privately owned water systems.
The new arrangement with WIFA takes out a new loan with the agency to pay for those bonds while providing around $1.6 million in savings through refinancing with a lower interest rate.
It also does a little more than that, according to Cottonwood Administrative Services Manager Rudy Rodriguez.
“The WIFA loan will enable the city to retire and refinance the revenue bonds issued in 2004 at a reduced interest rate and save the city a substantial amount of money over the remaining terms of those bonds,” Rodriguez reported.
Grant Hamill is a broker for Stifel, Nicolaus and Co., a St. Louis-based investment company that has been working closely with the city and WIFA throughout this process.
“The benefit of this program is they are able to lend money at a below market interest rate,” Hamill said. “It’s an extremely attractive arrangement.”
To read the full story, see the Wednesday, May 27, edition of the Cottonwood Journal Extra.
