Bell : $7.8 Million in Bonds OKd

In a joint action Monday, the Bell City Council and the Community Redevelopment Agency authorized the issuance of $7.8 million in 30-year, fully amortized bonds to refinance 1985 tax allocation notes of $7 million.

The purpose of issuing the A-rated, 8.04% bonds at this time is to take advantage of a favorable bond market and to avoid a $7-million balloon payment which would have been due on the notes in 1990, according to Councilman Ray Johnson.

The city has been paying interest only on the original notes. Johnson said the bonds will place the city’s indebtedness on a sounder financial basis, by allowing the city to pay off both principal and interest. The original notes were issued in 1985 to get “seed money” for the redevelopment agency, Johnson said. “Notes were a faster way” than bonds to obtain the money at that time, he said.