Lehigh County Saves About $4 Million in 20 Minutes

In the space of 20 minutes Wednesday morning, Lehigh County saved almost $4 million dollars.

The savings came from $36.5 million in 2001 bonds through an auction on the Internet that attracted 15 bidders and 85 bids, according to Tom Muller, county director of administration. The winning interest rate was 1.004268 percent from Guggenheim Securities of New York.  The auction started at 11 a.m. and was over by 11:20 a.m. The savings will be spread over two years.

Muller said the turmoil in Washington over the deadline to raise the federal debt ceiling might have contributed to the number of bidders and the very low interest rate. Lehigh County’s Aa1 bond rating from Moody’s Investors Service means “we’re viewed as a very safe place to put money,” he said.

Working with Concord Public Financial Advisors, the county had anticipated savings of about $2.2 million so officials were ecstatic about the result. “It adds to our ability to avoid tax increases moving forward,” Muller said.

County Executive Don Cunningham must present his 2012 budget by Aug. 31.

The 2001 bonds were essentially refinanced bonds from 1993 and 1996 which had paid for the Government Center construction, as well as smaller projects at Cedarbrook, the county nursing home and the Velodrome, he said.

Muller said at the meeting County Commissioner Percy Dougherty suggested they send Muller down to Washington to fix the financial woes. His response? “No thanks.”