EAST COUNTY : Refinancing Saves District $3 Million

The Calleguas Municipal Water District saved nearly $3 million when it refinanced a filtration plant and other projects that will help “drought-proof” the district, General Manager Don Kendall said Monday.

Kendall said the refinancing, which occurred Thursday, is akin to a homeowner refinancing the house to get a better rate on the mortgage in today’s low-interest market.

“The board has made a pledge that Calleguas will not raise our water rates until after the year 2000. This refunding helps us to meet those goals,” he said.

Calleguas Controller Mary Jo Fischer said refinancing the bonds issued in 1991 will save the district nearly $107,000 a year in interest payments.

A total of $57.6 million in bonds were refinanced. The action lowered the average interest rates on the bonds to 5.50% from 6.68%, Fischer said. The total interest savings will amount to $2.98 million over the remaining 28-year life of the bonds.

Most of the bond money, $35 million, is going toward the construction of a filtration plant at the Bard Reservoir between Simi Valley and Thousand Oaks. The district is under a federal mandate to build the plant to improve water quality.

Kendall said the money will also pay for other projects designed to help “drought-proof” the Calleguas district, such as the construction of reclaimed water systems in Oak Park and Simi Valley, reservoirs and ground water wells designed to store water.

Calleguas is Ventura County’s largest water wholesaler, supplying all or part of the water used by nearly 500,000 customers in Simi Valley, Thousand Oaks, Camarillo, Moorpark, Oxnard and the unincorporated communities of Bell Canyon, Lake Sherwood, Oak Park and Somis. Calleguas buys its water from the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California and resells it to 21 public and private agencies in the area.