City Manager Joseph Scherer reported the news to council at its meeting this evening.
He told the panel the interest rate on the proposal will be locked Monday and the matter will be closed out on May 10.
The agreement means the city will begin making significantly lower payments on a quarterly basis, Scherer said following the meeting.
Mayor Emery Doughtie, who attended the meeting in Raleigh, said he was pleased with the LGC’s approval of the proposal. Although he couldn’t speak with certainty on what the interest rate will be until next week, the mayor said, “It will be a fixed rate, a lower rate.”
Scherer said the new financing package will be reflected in the upcoming fiscal year budget.
Last month council chose a two-pronged option which includes a two-year, short-term taxable note proposed by Bank of America and a long-term, tax-exempt package.
The two-year taxable note assumes a fixed interest rate of 2.98 percent on principal of $3,675,000.
The potential savings over the 15 years of the tax-exempt bonds will vary year to year, with $754,341 realized in the 2018 fiscal year and more than $860,000 in the 2020 through 2022 fiscal years.