(Greenfield, Iowa) – The Adair County Board of Supervisors, Wednesday afternoon, approved the sale of $5-million worth of General Obligation Urban Renewal Bonds, Series 2022, to 1st National Capital Markets (FNCM), of Omaha. Maggie Burger, Senior Vice President with Speer Financial, Inc., of Waterloo, said there were seven bids for the purchase of the bonds. FNCM, Burger said, offered a true interest rate of 2.5575%.

Burger said the 2.55% interest rate was slightly lower than what they were running projections on when they were were talking about the final Debt Service schedule. She said the County’s rating is a Aa3.

A-/A3 are medium investment grade credit ratings offered by Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s. Both ratings signify that the issuer has financial backing and some cash reserves with a low risk of default. A-/A3 is the seventh-highest rating a debt issuer can receive and is four rankings above the cutoff for junk bonds. The investor/bidders were pleased with the way the County’s taxable valuation has grown over the past five-years.

Other factors, such as unemployment data that is below the State and National level, and all of the County’s Debt is fixed, attributed to the favorable interest rate. The bonds are callable after June 1st, 2029.  In other business, the Adair County Supervisors passed a Resolution with regard to a stop light and stop signs on a Farm to Market Road, in the City of Orient.