After agreeing to a $6 million equipment and maintenance contract with RACOM Corporation of Marshalltown last week, the Washington County Board of Supervisors began to put together the payment plan for the project at Tuesday’s meeting.

Michael Hart with Northland Securities made a presentation to the board about debt structuring and bonds for radio equipment.

The resolution presented to the board was for an amount of $3.568 million dollars at the present time but this could be increased to the total $10.5 million initial project estimate at a future time. The $3.568 million dollar figure would be sufficient for the county’s initial payment obligation of $600,000 on September 15th and the rest of the needed funds for FY2018. Hart also suggested to the board that the county undergo a credit rating assessment. This process costs $12,000 to $14,000 initially but would save the county between $30,000 and $40,000 above that amount in reduced interest costs over the life of the debt. Washington County currently has a AA3 rating, AAA is the highest possible rating. The board chose to adopt the $3.568 million bond figure, payment plan timeline and credit rating process. The current timetable for the project is for the credit rating information be gathered immediately to begin that assessment, the interest rate for the bonds can then be locked in August 27th, bond sales can begin the following week and county proceeds can close September 26th.