St. Cloud Approves $45 Million Bond Sale for Fire Station 6 and Street Projects at 4.38% Rate

(KNSI) – The St. Cloud City Council voted 5-0 Monday night to approve the sale of $45.335 million in bonds for Fire Station 6 and this year’s street reconstruction, borrowing less than the city had planned for.

The bonds sold at 10:30 a.m. Monday, with UBS Bank winning the bid at a 4.38% interest rate. The city will have 20 years to payback the loan. Mayor Jake Anderson told KNSI that rate is good news for the people footing the bill.

“You know, obviously you want the lowest interest rate you can get, but the 4.38% is a very competitive rate attributed to our bond rating, so that makes that project less painful to actually pay for.”

The final total came in about $1.2 million under the $46.54 million the council authorized last month. Fifteen banks and financial institutions bid on the bonds, a turnout the mayor credits to the city’s AA+ bond rating.

“It’s like a credit score, right? Your bond rating is the same as credit score. We have a really high credit score. So the greater and better your bond rating or credit score is, the better interest rates you can get.”

Most of the money will build Fire Station 6, a new training facility and related equipment. Voters approved up to $43.5 million for that project in a November 5th, 2024 referendum. The rest goes to the city’s 2026 street reconstruction projects.

Property taxes will pay back the bonds. The city set aside $1.5 million in this year’s levy for the fire station debt and is proposing $3.5 million for 2027.

Crews are already moving dirt at the fire station site, and Anderson says the city hopes to have it finished by the end of next year.

Council members Scott Brodeen and Mark Johnson were absent from the meeting.

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