March 29, 2024

County's Captiol Loan Notes up for bid, new bidding process to be implemented

Last Tuesday after initial confusion on whether bids were to be flat rate or placed per acre and the ensuing bidding war between citizens, Jasper County Auditor Dennis Parrott will be seeking the boards approval on a new electronic bidding system to go along with the sealed bid process that had been in use.

In it's official statement the county stated:

“That the receipt of electronic bids by facsimile machine and through the “PARITY” competitive bidding system described in the Notice of Sale are hearby found and determined to provide reasonable and security and to maintain the integrity of the competitive bidding process, and to facilitate the delivery of bids by interested parties in connection with the offering at public sale.”

If approved, the new process will start as the county prepares its next item for bid, $1,690,000 General Obligation Refunding Capital Loan Notes. The minimum bid for this notes is $1,678,170 and good faith deposit of $16,900 will be due by 11 a.m. the day of the sale, which will also be held at Tuesday's meeting.

According to the investing website investopedia, a loan note is:

“An extended form of an IOU from one party to another that enables a payee to receive payments (possibly with interest) over a set period of time, ending with the date at which the entire loan is to be repaid. Loan notes are usually provided in lieu of cash at the payee's request.”

In it's preliminary official statement the county and it's financial advisor The Banker's Trust Company of Des Moines, it states:

“The Notes are being issued to pay costs to crossover advance refund, on June 1, 2015, through 2023 (the 'Series' 200 Bonds). The proceeds of the Notes will be applied to the expense of the refunding and to establish an escrow account to be held by The Banker's Trust Company, Des Moines, Iowa...The purchaser of the Notes agrees to enter into a loan agreement with the County pursuant to the authority contained in section 384.24A of the Code of Iowa.”

The county will then create a final official statement on the notes once they have awarded the sale. The final statement will include offering prices, interest rates, selling compensation, aggregate principal amount, principal amount per maturity, anticipated delivery date and other information required by law.

Staff Writer Ty Rushing may be contacted at (641)-792-3121 Ext. 426 or trushing@newtondailynews.com