POUGHKEEPSIE – Dutchess County Executive Marcus Molinaro has announced the county is again planning to do an early payoff of callable bonds to take advantage of more than $1.5 million in savings, pending approval of the county legislature.
The Department of Finance plans to pay off $8.6 million in debt principal on bonds originally issued in 2014, with payments scheduled through 2034. The early payoff will provide for $1.5 million in interest savings.
“Our conservative fiscal policies and smart debt management practices have ensured we can accomplish important projects, maintain and improve our infrastructure to better serve our residents,” said Molinaro. “In 2022, we will spend less money for debt service than we did in 2019 and 2020 and those dollars go back to our residents with more than $20 million in sales and property tax relief.”
Debt service is used to finance capital expenditures such as road and bridge projects, equipment acquisition, building construction and renovations, and other authorized activities.
The county has utilizing only 8.8 percent of its total constitutional debt limit. According to a 2020 State Comptroller Report, the county’s debt per capita is 50 percent lower than the statewide average.
Standard & Poor’s Rating Services recently reaffirmed Dutchess County Government’s AA+ bond rating – the highest S&P rating of any county in the state – for the county’s most recent debt issuance, which totaled $70.2 million.
Those funds finance several projects and investments approved by the county legislature including highway and bridge improvements, Partnership for Manageable Growth, HVAC projects, Urban Trail project, the Dutchess County Justice & Transition Center and more.
