MARYSVILLE – Good planning by city leaders has helped boost Marysville’s bond rating, and that is likely to save the city about $450,000 in interest payments on the sale of an estimated $51 million in revenue bonds.
The City Council on Monday will have a special meeting to discuss and act on bonds that would repay a short-term line of credit used to pay for improvements to the city’s water and sewer systems.
“The credit goes to the City Council,” Mayor Dennis Kendall said Friday. “Our credit rating has increased by two levels, and it’s going to save us a considerable amount of money in interest because we’ve been able to do that.”
The ratings by Moody’s Public Finance Group and Standard &Poor’s bond rating services put the city in the “superior” rating category, which is likely to save the city significantly on interest payments over the 20-year life of the bonds, city finance director Sandy Langdon said.
In the fall, the council voted to increase water and sewer rates for utility customers by 11.6 percent for those inside the city and 30 percent for rural customers – a decision council members found hard to make, but necessary. The new rates take effect Jan. 1.
The typical water bill for city residents increased to $22.30 from $19.05 a month, and a typical sewer bill increased to $61.30 from $56.80 a month. Rural rates went to $33.50 from $23.80 for water and to $92 from $68.15 for sewer.
The city’s utility rate committee recommended the hikes, as well as increases in 2006-2010 adjusted for the cost of inflation, which is usually about 2 percent a year, according to city spokesman Doug Buell.
The council decided not to raise property taxes, but determined the utility rate increase was necessary to cover operation and maintenance of city utilities as well as the cost of a $40 million upgrade of the city’s sewage treatment plant.
That upgrade included a new four-mile pipeline to connect with Everett’s sewage treatment plant and a deep-water outfall; a $4 million project to build a new water treatment plant and pipeline from the city’s well near the Stillaguamish River; a north-end storm-water detention pond; and upgrades to the Sunnyside reservoir, Edward Springs facility and some transmission mains.
Reporter Cathy Logg: 425-339-3437 or logg@heraldnet.com.
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