$6.16 million still unspent from bonds

Approximately $6.16 million in unobligated funds remains from the $29.45-million bond issue approved by Clinton voters in 2015 to pay for the city’s big water improvement project, figures released Monday by City Treasurer Debra Blanchard show.
Biggest project in the program is the city’s new $14.6-million water treatment plant nearing completion at the west edge of town.
Ms. Blanchard said $22,626,680 had been spent on all construction projects associated with the water program as of June 30. Money to pay for the bonds and their financing is being raised from a temporary half-cent sales tax that went into effect July 1, 2015, and through a 38-percent increase in water rates that was approved about the same time. The temporary sales tax will expire Sept. 30, 2019.
However, another existing penny sales tax will be extended past its 2019 expiration date to 2044, with almost 85 percent of the money it raises going to help redeem the water bonds and another 15 percent into the city’s Economic Development Fund.  Also, .05 percent of every dollar collected from that sales tax  was made permanent several years ago to provide funds for maintaining Acme Brick Park, which was newly established at the time.
Voters approved extension of that full penny of sales tax for the additional 25 years in 2015. 
The water program being financed by the bond issue includes a lot more than just the new treatment plant. It also includes the drilling of three new wells (the Dixon well west of town and two at Riverside Golf Course), various pipelines both in town and bringing water to town, plus other engineering and construction costs associated with water.
So far, said Blanchard, new money has been used only to pay interest on the $29.45 million in bond debt. The first payment on the principal will be due Dec. 1, 2018.
Over the first 36 months of the bond issue, the city has paid nearly $3.4 million in interest. During those first three years, the average interest payment has been $93,823.84 per month.
For the approximate 30-year life of the $29.45-million bond issue, the city is scheduled to pay nearly $21 million in interest. The last payment will be due Dec. 1, 2044.