County realizes savings thanks to bond refinancing

Cape Girardeau County officials say $146,000 will be saved over the next 15 years, the result of the commission's decision Monday to refinance its bonds for the county jail.

The move dropped the county's interest rate on the $5,085,000 issue from 5 percent to 4.25 percent.

The original bond issue, approved by voters in 1998, was for 20 years.

"You can think of it as refinancing a home and this is the mortgage on the jail," said Michelle Bock of the financial advising group, US Bancorp, Piper Joffray.

In addition to the refinancing, the county also borrowed an extra $1 million to go toward capital improvements, including an updated computer system.

The county's computer systems do not work together well, say representatives from several departments. Some departments still do billing manually. The intent of the new computer system, which has yet to be approved, would be to link all the departments and also tie in the new Geographical Information System, which the mapping and appraisal departments have been working on for quite some time.

County Auditor David Ludwig said the current state of the economy made for the perfect time to refinance and borrow. He said the extra million dollars was borrowed at an $850,000 value.

"It's an excellent opportunity," said Ludwig, who has been working on the refinancing since July. "What we're trying to do is make full use and make use of the economy and update the technology in the county."

Audit performed

In other business, the commission also reviewed an independent audit on Monday.

The audit did not report any major violations.

It did cite a reporting flaw on an escrow account. The county did not report an interest balance on a monthly basis.

But Ludwig said no money was lost and that the problem has already been fixed.

"It was on the books but not in the right account, per se," Ludwig said. "It's just something we have to report, but we've handled it and it's already been reconciled."

Septic changes

In the third notable matter of the day, county health officials presented a revised proposed septic tank ordinance to the commission.

There were two final changes in the draft, following a public hearing on the matter two weeks ago.

The county health department took out the 48-hour notification regulation in which installers would have been forced to notify the department of a new septic system installation. Installers still have to give notification, but the new ordinance gives the installers more flexibility.

The second change in the proposed ordinance is the provision that each lot under one acre of land will be considered individually for septic system approval. Lot sizes smaller than one acre will be considered only if the applicant provides information indicating that the site can handle water and sewage.

The commission will vote on the septic system regulations on Thursday.

bmiller@semissourian.com

243-6635