Lake Geneva officials have agreed to sell about $6 million worth of bonds to a Minnesota company to help pay the cost to purchase the former Hillmoor Golf Course property.
Members of the Lake Geneva City Council unanimously approved Nov. 14 to sell $6.07 million worth of general obligation park and public grounds bonds to Piper Sandler & Company of Minneapolis, Minnesota.
City council members unanimously approved to authorize the bond sale Oct. 10.
The city is set to pay back the bonds within 20 years. The cost to taxpayers will be about $9 million with the city budgeting about $450,000 per year to pay back the bonds.
City officials initially approved to sell up to $6.15 million in bonds, but Joseph Murray, senior municipal advisor for Ehler’s Public Finance Advisors, said they were able to reduce the sale to about $6.07 million, which will save both the city and taxpayers money.
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“So you’re saving $75,000 because the underwriter is not taking as much compensation as we had structured in the deal,” Murray said.
The owner of a $370,000 home initially was set to pay an additional $98 to $51 a year in additional taxes, for a total of about $1,500 over 20 years. However, Murray said the owner of a $370,000 home will now pay about $105 less during that time period.
“This issue will wind up saving them $105 over the 20-year life of this issue,” Murray said. “So it’s all very good news.”
Five other companies submitted a bid to purchase the bonds including:
Hilltop Securities of Dallas, Texas for about $6.28 million
Baird Financial Services of Milwaukee for about $6.216 million
Northland Securities, Inc. of Minneapolis, Minnesota for about $6.18 million
Bok Financial Securities, Inc. of Milwaukee for about $6.152 million
TD Securities LLC of New York, New York for about $6.4 million.
“We were showing good interest and people wanting to buy City of Lake Geneva debt,” Murray said.
Members of the Lake Geneva City Council unanimously approved, Sept. 26, to purchase the former Hillmoor Golf Course property for about $6 million from White River Holdings LLC and to settle litigation with the company.
The city is set to close on the property by the end of 2022.
Dennis Hines
Reporter
