“There’s going to be people against it, and I can understand that,“ said Young. “There are no certainties in life.”
The four new bonds, one General Obligation Warrant for the city, two Build America Bonds for the school system and an Electrical Revenue Warrant, total $9,424,232.95 and will take city 30 years to pay back. Young said the reason the city needed to act so quickly was that the old bonds “had two payback dates of July 1 and January 1.”
Young noted that the city’s actual monthly bond payments have gone down as a result of the new bonds. “When we get all of it said and done, taking the amount we have committed to the school, (The new bonds) will come up to about $7,000 less per month (Than the previous bonds). Of course the period has been extended,” said Young.
Architect Seawell McKee of the firm McKee & Associates, is just beginning the work of designing a multi-use facility which could include a new senior center, civic center, library, outdoor pool and incorporate some of the city’s museum pieces.
“Our seniors, we want to help them with this money, and get a library,” said Young. The current library is not very accessible for the handicapped. The senior center’s current location in the old hospital above Veteran’s Memorial Park is difficult and costly to repair, said Young.
“We’ve got do something to attract people, and people you want to attract want nice things,” said Young. “I think even industry wants quality of life.
“I guess growing up in Piedmont, it’s always been like people don’t think you deserve nice things, that Piedmont doesn’t deserve them, but I think we deserve the best stuff, because we’ve got the best folks. We may not have the highest income but that doesn’t mean our folks aren’t good.”
In addition to the new facility, the bonds could make it possible for the city to improve the way it reads electric meters.
“One of our bigger complaints has been the meter reading,” said Young. “We’re wanting to upgrade our meters to radio-read. That way we won’t have guys manually putting numbers into the machine.” Young said he hopes that by switching to radio-read, residents will see the benefit of fewer errors, which could save them money.
The city’s water, gas and sewage bonds and the Health Care Authority bonds have not been restructured yet, but Young said that may soon change. “We’re wanting to redo them too,” said Young.
“The first 10, 15 years on these (new bonds) are going to be 2- to 2-and-a-half percent interest,” said Young. The general obligation warrants for the city average out to a 4.49 percent interest rate over the 30-year life of the bond, with an annual average payment of $272,750. The Electric Revenue Warrant has a 29-year average interest of 4.47 percent and will cost the city an annual average of $115,450.
The two school bonds, both Build America Bonds, have a combined average interest of just under 4 percent and an average annual cost of $263,519.
Piedmont School Superintendent Matt Akin said the two new bonds for the schools would allow school officials to complete on-campus softball and baseball stadiums and renovate the football stadium. “We began in the spring on the renovations and additions to the PHS gym,” said Akin. “A component of the additions includes a lecture hall addition on the back of the gym and the stadium.”
“The additions would not have been possible without the support of the mayor and city council,” said Akin. “ The Board and I presented our proposal to the mayor and council several months ago. The city issued the bond ($4.4 million) on behalf of the school system. Our $10,000 per month allocation from the city will help toward the repayment of the bond.”
Akin said that Commissioner Rudy Abbott is also committed to assisting with the school system’s project through in-kind services. “We will definitely need the County Commission’s help to fully complete the project,” said Akin.
“We are committing $10,000 per month towards the repayment of bonds in a difficult financial time,” said Akin. “But the positives far outweigh the negatives. The County Wide 1 percent sales tax has helped lift the burden of proration. Additionally, we have discussed with the city about the possibility of some savings with utilities and that should offset other costs. Overall, it is a win-win situation for the school system and city.”
Very few of the planned improvements would be possible with the bonds restructuring, said Young. “There might be some grant money we can get on the senior building and the library, on a civic center there is very little grant money,” said Young. “The ball fields, there is very little, if any, opportunities for grants.”
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