Lake Como Sanitary District #1

 

N3420 Dell Place

 

Telephone   (262) 248-2077

Facsimile   (262) 348-0432

www.lcsd1.org

 

 

 

March 12, 2012

 

 

 

Dear Lake Como Sanitary District Customers,

 

 

With the tough times in the economy, the Commission and staff at Lake Como Sanitary District are continuously looking for ways to save money.  We recently refinanced our longest and largest outstanding loan with the assistance of Ehlers and Associates.  Originally we expected to see our current 4.5% 40 year bond reduced to a 4.0% 20 year bond.  This scenario would have saved the District $1.54 million. 

 

We decided to obtain a credit rating from Standard and Poors Corporation in order to get the best interest rates.  The District received a favorable ‘A’ rating which ultimately resulted in more competitive bids.  Ehlers said that an ‘A’ rating was virtually unheard of for a sanitary district of our size.

 

The bids for the new 20 year bond were opened on December 12, 2011 and the winning bid far exceeded expectations.  BOSC, Inc. from Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin won the bidding with an interest rate of under 2.9%.  At this rate the re-calculated savings to the District over the next 20 years will be over $2.10 million. 

 

Furthermore, even though we were able to go from a 40 year to a 20 year bond, our new annual payments will be lower than our original payments in each and every year.  Where we once expected to be in debt through the year 2039, we are now scheduled to have all of our system bonds paid off by 2031. 

 

As we look back, we did not raise water rates this year and we have not raised sewer rates since January 2010.  To demonstrate the quality work our staff does, our overtime has decreased by over 40% over the last 3 years.  In the past it has been our goal to keep costs as low as possible for all of our rate payers and as we head into 2012 and beyond we will continue to make that a top priority. 

 

 

Sincerely,

 

 

Neal Kolb

District Manager